Learning How to Shine
by alyells
Summary: Lily Luna Potter has always been outshined by her brothers, James being the hilarious, talented one and Albus the softhearted, intelligent one. But Lily knows that in her years at Hogwarts, she'll learn much more than spells. She'll learn how to shine.
1. A Special Kind of Day

**Learning How to Shine**

For as long as she could remember, Lily Luna Potter had been overshadowed by her big brothers. James was the first born, the first to go to Hogwarts, the first to bring home a proper test score, the first to get detention from McGonagall, the first to do _everything_. Albus was the middle child, the sensitive one, excelling in his school work and eternally sweet and gentle. Lily hadn't any exciting things to her name. She hadn't gone to school yet, hadn't made any teams or gotten any Outstanding grades. She hadn't even gotten to do proper magic yet! But today, Lily knew, was all about her.

Today, Lily, James and Albus would be accompanying their parents, Harry and Ginny, to Diagon Alley, London's wizarding shopping centre, to pick up their school things. The reason it was all about Lily? This would be her first year in Hogwarts! The first time _she _needed books, robes, potions ingredients, a wand and a cauldron!

Lily sat in her bedroom, already dressed in her Muggle clothing, frowning at the grey sky that was a blatant contradiction to her bubbly excitement. She caught her reflection in the window glass; a fair skinned girl with long, wavy red hair and big brown eyes stared back at her, looking rather angry. She rearranged her features into a more pleasant expression, and took in the outfit she was wearing; a white tee shirt and blue jeans - Simple and comfortable for a long day of shopping.

She glanced down at her Hogwarts letter, which she had read over and over all summer, so much so that she had it memorized. She had been so excited to receive it, and had rubbed it thoroughly in James' face. He had insisted that the letter of acceptance should have come much earlier, and it was obvious that she wasn't going to Hogwarts in September.

_Dear Miss Potter,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find an enclosed list of all necessary books and equipment._

_  
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31._

__

Yours Sincerely,

__

Minerva McGonagall  
Deputy Headmistress

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

Lily's smile broadened as she mouthed the letter to herself. Unable to contain her excitement any longer, she hurried down the single flight of stairs to the kitchen where the rest of her family was waiting, letter and supply list still clutched tightly in her hand.

James and Albus were sitting at the table, eating cereal and avoiding each other's eyes. Even a glance between the two tended to start _some _sort of bickering; normally it was harmless, but it irritated their mother beyond belief. Ginny was standing by the sink, drinking tea and chatting with her father, Harry. All heads turned to Lily when she entered the kitchen.

Ginny set down her tea and smiled at her daughter. "Good morning!"

"Morning, Mum," Lily said cheerily. "Know what today is?"

"How could we not," James said sarcastically, "you've been going on about it for no less than three weeks."

Lily stuck her tongue out at her brother.

"Of course she has," Harry said, coming to her defense quickly. He was never one to let one of his children be picked on, even by _another_ one of his children. "Don't you remember how excited you were for your first trip to Diagon Alley? If I recall correctly, you made up a song about it…"

"Yeah, okay," James cut him off. "I was excited. Who cares?"

Lily smiled triumphantly and pulled the box of cereal toward her. She ate quickly and cleared all the dishes away, eager to start the day off. Her siblings took their time, and she glowered at them impatiently. Lily's foot tapped on the hard, tiled floor of the kitchen as they ate. After what felt like an hour, they were finally finished.

Ginny cleared the rest of the washing up off the table with a flick of her wand, and instructed the children to go get cleaned up before they left. Lily flew up the stairs and down the hall, into the bathroom and brushed her teeth before her brothers even made it up the stairs.

James straggled into the spacious bathroom, moving to the sink and lazily picking up his toothbrush. Albus came in behind him, and ran the hot water to wash his hands.

"Hurry up, James," Lily called over her shoulder as she ran back down the stairs.

"I'm hurrying," he called back.

Ginny and Harry were waiting by the front door. With an uncertain glance through the glass pane in the door, it appeared to Lily as though it might rain. As if she had read her mind, Ginny said, "Mind you take your coat. We're in for some showers today, I think."

"Yes, Mum," Lily said obediently, and took her emerald green coat of the hook on the wall. Her father had insisted she wear green, because it set off the vivid red colour of her hair so nicely.

"Come on, you two," Harry called up the stairs. They heard footsteps, and within a moment, Lily's brothers were donning their coats and they were out the door.

Lily's excitement was temporarily shadowed by her fear of the Underground, by which they would be traveling that day. It was much easier to travel the Muggle way to get to the heart of London, especially since so few fireplaces were hooked up to the Floo network in the city, and Side-Along Apparation was tricky and a bit dangerous. Since Lily had been small, the Underground had made her nervous. Today was no exception; the intricate tunnels and fast-moving trains were frightening to her.

It was only a short walk to the nearest station from their pleasant, two storied home just outside the city. Within fifteen minutes, the Potter family had arrived at the steep set of stairs that led them under ground. Lily clutched her mother's hand fearfully, and Ginny squeezed it in a reassuring way. Lily grimaced when they came to the bottom of the steps, not caring if her brothers – more so James - poked fun at her for behaving like a baby.

The tunnels smelled of mould, and were poorly lit by bare bulbs hanging from the ceiling. They were surrounded by at least a thousand people, and they huddled close together, minus James, who hurried along happily in front, knowing his way around. Albus stayed near his father's side and Lily her mother's. They bought their tickets from a bitter-looking teenage girl with spiky green hair, and ran to catch the first train out of the station.

Lily stood with her mother next to a haggard man with a balding head, who reeked of stale alcohol and tobacco. He grinned toothlessly at her, and she clung to the metal pole in the middle of the train, hoping the ride was quick. James, Albus and Harry took seats along the wall of the subway train. Albus looked rather nervous; he was sitting next to a man in his early twenties with a black Mohawk and numerable piercings. Ginny placed a comforting hand on her daughter's shoulder, and when the train started to move, Lily turned green. She took deep, calming breaths, suppressing the urge to be sick, and praying that her stomach contents would stay where they were supposed to be.

After a few stops, the five Potters filed out into another dingy, dark underground tunnel. Lily held her breath until they climbed the stairs and stepped onto the side walk. The day was showing signs of improving; the sun was just visible behind a light grey cloud cover. They hurried across the street, which was surprisingly empty of traffic and pedestrians, and into the Leaky Cauldron.

As was custom, Tom, the barman, greeted the family by name. They were frequent visitors to Leaky Cauldron, as it was the passage into the magical world, and of course, Harry had spent quite a bit of time there when he was a schoolboy.

"Hello, Mr Potter, Mrs Potter," Tom smiled at them from behind the long, oak bar. "Ah, and the Potter siblings three. How nice to see you!"

"And you, Tom," Harry said, shaking hands with the man. "Just passing through today, I'm afraid."

"School shopping already?" Tom inquired.

"Yes, the summer absolutely flew by this year," said Ginny. "Come along, you three, we have lots to do."

They moved to the back of the bar and through a small door that led into a courtyard. There was a large, brick enclosure behind the building. Harry drew his wand from his pocket and tapped a succession of bricks; the wall parted in the centre and formed a wide arch way. Although she'd seen it many times, the sight before her made Lily gasp.

Diagon Alley was bustling with activity. Here and there, people were stopped outside shops chatting, walking with arms laden with packages, or admiring window displays. Signs hung from poles on the front of the buildings, bearing the names of various shops. As they stepped onto the road, the brick wall closed up behind them.

"Well, where to first," Ginny asked her family. "Hand me your supply list, then, Lily," she instructed, holding out a hand. Lily pulled the crumpled piece of parchment from her pocket and handed it to her mother. She scanned it quickly, and turned to her husband. "Well, Lily needs her robes, wand, and cauldron, while the boys have theirs. Shall we split up into groups?"

Harry nodded. "I'll take Al and James to get their potions supplies refilled, and –"

"I want to go to Quality Quidditch Supplies, Dad," interrupted James.

"And I need my new school books, look," said Albus, pulling his own list out of his pocket. "I'm starting Divination and Care of Magical creatures this year!"

"Alright," Harry said, looking sharply at his sons. "We'll go to Flourish and Blott's first, with Mum and Lily, to get our books, then we'll all go to the Apothecary to get our potions things. We'll split up after that, d'you think?"

"Sounds alright with me," Ginny said with a nod. "Madam Malkin's is right next to the book store, so we'll go to the Apothecary first."

"Right," Harry said, and they started down the street. Lily's amazed eyes took in everything, her head whipping back and forth between both sides of the street. They took only minutes in the Apothecary, refilling James and Albus' vials and buying Lily her starter's kit. Though she had been transfixed by the different bottles and jars of every different colour, the awful smell of the place made her grateful to leave.

Harry led the family down the street again, and they went to Flourish and Blott's, the book store. Albus' eyes lit up with excitement; he was a notorious bookworm and couldn't wait to get his hands on his new text books.

"What books do I need, Mum?" Lily asked, standing on tip-toe to read the list in her mother's hand.

"We needn't worry about that, dear," Ginny said, approaching the counter where a tall, thin man with a wiry moustache stood, examining them over wire-rimmed glasses stood. "Excuse me," Ginny asked politely, "we need a Hogwarts list filled."

The man smiled faintly and held out his hand, in which Ginny placed the list. "Not a problem, pet, not a problem." He took his wand off the counter, touched it to the list, and to Lily's surprise, 8 books flew off their respective shelves and onto the surface in front of her. She gazed at the book on top of the pile; _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_ by Emeric Switch. Transfiguration was the subject she was most curious about.

Ginny paid for the books, and with another flick of the shopkeeper's wand, they wrapped themselves in thick brown paper and were tied up with a string. Lily grabbed the heavy package, and, with some difficulty, dragged it out of the shop.

Seconds later, Harry, Albus and James came out of the store, James with three new books and Albus with two. Lily's gaze drifted to the next store to her left; Madam Malkin's. She couldn't wait to try on her robes!

"I suppose we'll just part here," Harry said to Ginny. She nodded. "Meet up around noon at Florean's for ice cream?" Albus and James whooped in approval.

"Alright," said Ginny. "We're going to Madam Malkin's first, then Pottige's Cauldron Shop and Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop, then the Telescope Shop and Ollivander's, and after that either Eeylops or the Magical Menagerie, depending on what Lily thinks," she finished with a smile.

"Depending on what I think about what?" Lily asked her mother inquisitively.

"You'll see," said Harry with a smile. James and Albus also exchanged a knowing glance; did they know something she didn't?

Harry kissed his wife and daughter, and strolled down the lane with Albus and James running off ahead of them. They were _obviously_ going to the Quidditch supply store. It was both James and Harry's favourite spot. Lily rolled her eyes; boys and their Quidditch.

Ginny started towards Madam Malkin's, and called over her shoulder to Lily, "come on, now!" She started and hurried off after her.

They entered the shop with a little twinkle of the bell. A very pretty assistant with curly, wild black hair in a set of deep purple-red robes hopped up from behind the counter. Lily noticed the elaborate white "MM" on her chest pocket. A big bubble of shiny pink gum popped and stuck to her nose. With a smile, she peeled it off and pushed it back in her mouth.

"Welcome to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions," she said in a cheery voice. "How can I help you?"

"We're here for Hogwarts robes," Lily chimed, stepping up to the counter and peering over the top. For a ten-year-old girl, she was still very short.

"I'll get Madam Malkin for you, then, shall I?" She smiled at Lily, turned her head and bellowed, "WE GOT SOME CUSTOMERS HERE, MUM!"

She turned back to them, and within seconds, a squat little witch in mauve robes popped around the corner. She, also, smiled warmly at Lily and Ginny.

"Hello, dearies," said Madam Malkin, "Hogwarts robes, then? Come this way!"

She tottered off through a door, and Ginny and Lily followed her. In the middle of the room was a circular platform, draped in mauve fabric.

"Step up then, love," said the witch kindly. Lily hopped onto the platform and Ginny stood off to the side. Within moments, she was draped in black robes from head to toe, and Madam Malkin was taking in the hem with her wand. It took only ten minutes for her three sets of robes to be fitted and stamped with the Hogwarts crest.

"We also need a black traveling cloak," said Ginny, double checking the list. Madam Malkin nodded and waved her wand. The cloak flew from a back storage room and with another flick, was fitted to Lily's requirements.

Laden with their purchases, Lily and Ginny left the shop. They walked slowly up and down the lane, entering shops and picking up things; Quills, rolls of parchment, notebooks, ink, a pewter cauldron (size 2), a collapsible telescope and brass scales. Soon, it was only Lily's wand that they needed.

The journey to Ollivander's was quick. Ginny held the door for her daughter, and she scurried inside. The room was dark, and the walls were lined with shelves stacked high with thin, rectangular boxes. A nervous fire started in the pit of Lily's stomach, and she jumped when her mother set the packages down at her feet with a _thump._

"Ah, Miss Potter," a misty voice called from the bowels of the shop. Lily looked up at her mother, who smiled faintly, and back towards the sound of the voice. "I was wondering when I'd be seeing you."

The man who spoke, Lily presumed, was Mr Ollivander. He stepped forward, and the dim light from the clear glass door illuminated his face; he was very, very old, and wrinkled, with a little tuft of wispy, white hair. He looked as though a breath of wind might blow him away.

"Good day, Mr Ollivander," Ginny addressed the ancient wizard. He nodded his acknowledgement back to her, and his grandfatherly face turned back to Lily.

"Here to buy a wand?" he inquired.

"Y-yes," Lily squeaked, shaking slightly. She approached the counter with a sense of foreboding. Mr Ollivander gave her an uneasy feeling.

"Well, let's see," he said, taking a grey box from the shelves and opening it. He passed the thin wooden wand to Lily, who took it gingerly in her small hand. "Maple, with a dragon heart string core, fourteen inches; rather long, but light. Give it a wave!"

Lily did as he instructed, and waved the wand as she had seen her parents do. The boxes behind Mr Ollivander jumped feebly. Lily frowned and looked at her mother.

"No need to worry, dear," Ginny said bracingly. "It can take a while."

"Hmmm," Mr Ollivander said, roaming the shelves and picking up another box. Lily watched with anticipation as he took it out and rolled it around in his fingers. "This one is cherry wood, unicorn tail hair core, twelve inches long; an excellent wand for Transfiguration, you know."

Lily took the wand again, and squealed quietly when blue sparks erupted from the tip. They landed on the box the wand had come in and turned it to ice. Mr Ollivander smiled warmly and, with a wave of his own wand, turned the box back before it could melt.

"Congratulations, Miss Potter," Mr Ollivander said heartily. "Your wand has chosen you, it seems."

Ginny counted the seven galleons from her money bag and placed them on the counter. Lily skipped from the shop, her heart feeling much lighter than it had before. She really _was_ magical!

The mother-daughter duo headed to the ice cream shop to find Harry, Albus and James already eating their sundaes. They were sitting outside at a table under an umbrella, shielded from the sun that was now blazing hot. Ginny pulled up an extra chair to the table, and she and Lily sat down.

"Got everything?" Harry said, scraping the last of his chocolate ice cream from the crystal glass.

"Yup!" Lily said excitedly. "My wand was wicked! Unicorn tail core, cherry wood! I even turned the box to ice!"

Harry smiled at his daughter, who was positively overcome with joy.

"I guess you really are a witch," James said in a voice of mock-disappointment.

"_Told _you I would be," Lily said happily.

"What about your pet?" Albus asked Lily. "What did you get?"

"My pet?"

Lily looked at her mother, then her father, who both smiled happily.

"We forgot to tell you," said Ginny. "We're going to get you a pet! We got James and Albus their owls when they started, so we figured you'd like one, too!"

"Can I really?" Lily asked, beaming.

"Of course," Harry said. "I thought you'd have it with you now, but…"

"I completely forgot to bring her," Ginny said with an apologetic glance at Lily.

"It's okay, Mum," Lily exclaimed. "We can go now!"

"Alright, dear," Ginny said. "Don't you want an ice cream, though?"

"I can have ice cream any day!" said Lily, jumping up. "Come on!"

The five Potters set off again, their parcels floating magically behind them. James and Albus, of course, had a race to see who could reach the Magical Menagerie first. James won, slamming shoulder first into the side of the building. Albus caught up with him mere seconds later, and glared daggers at his older, faster brother.

"Come on now, boys," Ginny said reprovingly. "Behave."

"Yes, Mum," they chanted, and ran through the door of the shop.

Lily's eyes widened when she followed her brothers through the doors. The walls of the store were very similar to Ollivander's in that they were covered with merchandise from floor to ceiling. In the case of the Magical Menagerie, however, the walls were lined with cages containing every animal imaginable; some, even, Lily hadn't imagined. Ravens cawed from their hanging cages, a rabbit to her left turned from a silk top hat and back again, and a very angry-looking purple toad croaked at her.

"What do you think you'd like, dear?" Ginny asked, holding out Lily's list again. "It says here you can have a toad, an owl, or a…"

"A cat!" Lily exclaimed, running to the basket of kittens near the shop window. Little balls of fur tumbled over each other to get to the side, mewing and rubbing up against Lily's outstretched hand.

"A cat?" James scoffed. "Wouldn't you rather one of these?" He was standing next to the cage of poisonous snails, which were oozing orange slime.

Lily scrunched up her nose. "No way! These are _much_ cuter," she said. Ginny moved behind her while Harry and Albus moved to examine the ravens.

"Which one do you like, love?" Ginny asked, staring adoringly at the kittens.

"Hmm," Lily said thoughtfully. "They're all so sweet, Mum!"

There were kittens of every colour; smoky grey, blazing orange, inky black and even a few mixed. Lily examined each one, taking in their appearance and temperament. The boldest ones were trying to climb over the wicker basket to get to her, while the shyer of the litter were staying near the back.

Curled up in a corner, however, was a little grey kitten with sapphire blue eyes. She had a white chest and paws with darker grey stripes all over her fur. Her pink nose was lifted in the air, sniffing around curiously. Lily held a gentle hand out to her, and she walked over, head cocked to one side. The kitten licked Lily's finger with her rough pink tongue, and her mind was made up immediately.

"This one," Lily cried, scooping up the kitten, which was so small she nearly fit in the palm of Lily's hand.

Ginny looked at the kitten, who snuggled up against her daughter's cheek sweetly. "Well, she's stolen my heart! Let's go buy her, shall we?"

They carried the little kitten to the counter and placed her down. She sniffed around impatiently, as if she wanted to be brought to her new home. Harry came over, and noticing the kitten of choice, hurried off to find food, a bed and other supplies. The shop keeper came to the desk and wrung up their purchases.

"She's adorable, isn't she?" the woman said kindly, rubbing the kitten's soft back with her long-nailed fingers. Ginny counted out the money and handed it over.

"Absolutely!" Lily said, scooping the kitten back into her arms. Harry, James and Albus helped Ginny carry their amazing amount of packages out of the shop.

"Have you got a name picked out yet?" Ginny asked her daughter, who was all eyes for the sweet little cat.

"I think so," Lily said thoughtfully. She inspected the cat, and then turned to face her mother. "I heard Fleur say once…That if she ever got a cat…Well, I loved the name…I picked Maybelle. It means loveable in French!"

Ginny smiled. "I think that suits her perfectly, don't you?" she asked her husband. Harry nodded.

"And you could call her Belle for short. That means…"

"Beautiful," Ginny sighed, watching her daughter and the kitten. "Isn't it?"


	2. Wonderful New Beginnings

**Learning How To Shine**

**A/N: So, I made a very obvious mistake in the last chapter; Ollivander's Wand shop closed down in Deathly Hallows after Ollivander was kidnapped by the Death Eaters. So, if you don't mind, ignore that humongous slip of the keyboard for this story please? ******** And one more thing; I know JKR says that McGonagall retired by the time Albus was in his first year, but I like her far too much to cut her out of this story. When she appears, she's still Head of Gryffindor, Headmistress and she still teachers Transfiguration. Hope you're enjoying the story! Ps, I'm Not JKR!**

Two weeks after the Diagon Alley shopping spree, Lily awoke with a start. September first was upon them already, and it was the start of term; finally! Ginny had called to her daughter over the stairs; it appeared she had slept in, which was surprising. Lily had anticipated being awake at the crack of dawn. She had been far too excited to get much sleep. Yawning, stretching and getting out of bed, however, she realized that she was too anxious to be tired.

She dressed quickly in her grey pleated skirt, white button down shirt and black pullover. She hauled her socks and shoes on over her cold feet and absolutely flew down the stairs into the kitchen. As was custom, James and Albus were already sitting at the table with Ginny and Harry. Lily took her seat and her mother pushed a plate of buttered toast towards her. Lily took a piece and ate it quickly.

"Don't choke on that, Lils," Harry said with a laugh. She smiled and drank a tall glass of orange juice in one go. Albus looked surprised; even James couldn't do that!

"Did you pack everything?" Ginny asked the three. They nodded, cleared away their dishes and went to bring their trunks to the front door.

"How are we getting to King's Cross?" Albus asked before heading up the stairs.

"Apparating," Harry said, smiling.

"Cool!" Albus and James chorused.

Lily looked anxious, but ran to get her trunk. She hadn't Apparated before, though her brother's had. Both of them had described it as uncomfortable, but fun at the same time. Lily grabbed her trunk and the wicker basket she'd be carrying Maybelle in down over the stairs. Her brothers hurried behind her, their trunks hammering on the stairs as they dragged, rather than carried them, to the front hall.

"Are you sure you're all packed, everyone?" Ginny asked as the three children crowded around her.

"Yes, Mum," James sighed exasperatedly. "We're all packed. We triple-checked everything, just like you told us to. Don't _worry!_"

Ginny opened her mouth to reprimand her son, but Lily's cry of "Maybelle!" interrupted the scolding that was to follow. The little redhead got down on her hands and knees and called the little kitten, which was standing on the bottom step, towards her. She stepped lightly onto the carpeted floor and pranced over to her girl. Lily kissed her on top of the head and placed her in the basket, closing the cover tightly.

"Alright then," Harry said to the room at large. "Lily, take your mother's hand and your trunk in the other. Albus, James, you do the same and hold onto my arms. Don't forget to hold fast; and don't let go! We don't want you three getting lost."

Lily whimpered faintly. "Is it going to hurt?"

Albus laughed. "Don't be silly! It doesn't hurt; it just feels weird!"

"Yeah, don't worry, Lily," James said kindly to his sister. "You won't die or anything! It's really rare for that to happen!"

"But _has _it happened?" Lily wailed, looking desperately at her mother.

"No, nothing of the sort, dear," Ginny said, glaring at James. He smiled sheepishly.

"Let's go, then!" Harry said quickly. "See you at the station," he said, and the boys each grabbed their trunks tightly with one hand, Harry's forearm with the other. "On three, turn, boys. One, two…Three!"

All three of the Potter boys turned on their heel, and with a loud _crack_ they disappeared into thin air, leaving Ginny and Lily alone in the porch. Ginny grabbed Lily's small hand in her own and smiled at her.

"Ready?" she asked bracingly.

"Mhm," Lily murmured, grabbing a hold of her trunk handle and Maybelle's basket. Ginny didn't count; she just turned on the spot and they were gone.

Lily felt as though she was being squeezed through a tube; her breathing was constricted and she was temporarily robbed of her senses of sight and hearing. Her feet were off the ground, and she felt like she was suspended in mid-air. She struggled for breath, but couldn't make her lungs expand at all. Just as she thought she was going to actually _die_, her feet hit the ground again. She took deep breaths, her eyes streaming, and staggered a bit.

"Welcome back, Lily," James said teasingly. She glowered at him and pouted. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"I couldn't _breathe!_" she yelled. "No one told me I wouldn't be able to _breathe!_"

"We figured it best if you found that one out yourself," Harry said with a chuckle.

"Not funny, Dad," Lily said, moving closer to her mother with her eyebrows furrowed in anger.

"You'll get over it," Harry said mildly.

They entered the huge red building, pulling their trunks and things behind them. As soon as they got inside, Harry grabbed them all trolleys and helped them lift their heavy loads onto them. It was much easier to push the trolley than lug the trunk around, Lily decided.

Harry had already purchased their tickets, so they didn't need to stand in the hideously long ticket line. The train was leaving in ten minutes; the Potters hurried to Platform 9 & ¾ at a quick pace. They did _not_ want to miss the train.

Lily's heartbeat was increasing, not due only to the speed-walk she was doing, but the nerves in her stomach. She set her jaw and tried to keep up with the rest of her family. She was unsure about how her Sorting would go, what House she'd be in, if she'd make any friends, and if her teachers would like her. Certainly, it wouldn't be too difficult, but still, starting school was a big thing. Lily had never found is especially easy to make friends; she was outgoing, but reserved at times, depending on the situation.

She didn't let her nerves get the better of her, though. For ten long, trying years, she'd been waiting for her letter to come. She wasn't going to let silly fears get in the way of enjoying her first day. Lily would be brave; she would _not_ cry when she left her mother. She'd do well, she was sure.

"—to do it at a bit of a run, if you're nervous," Harry was saying. "Grandma Weasley told me that one my first time."

Lily looked up to see the barrier between Platforms nine and ten facing her. She hadn't even realized they were there. James and Albus had already gone through with their trolleys.

"I'll see you on the other side, then," Harry said, and ran headlong into the barrier. He disappeared into the brick.

Lily took a deep breath. "Come through with me, Mum?"

"Of course, darling," Ginny said, and Lily took a hold of the trolley she was pushing. "Here we go!"

They walked to the barrier, and broke into a run at the last minute. Lily closed her eyes, ready for impact, but when she opened them again, she was facing the huge scarlet steam engine that was the Hogwarts Express. Eager to board, she ran up to her brothers, two were unloading their trunks from their trolleys. She followed their lead. Her mother and father came up behind her. Ginny, Lily discovered, had tears in her eyes already.

"Don't cry, Mum," Lily pleaded, grabbing her mother's hand and looking up at her.

Ginny's face was streaked with tears, but she gave Lily a watery smile. "No need to worry," she said fondly to her daughter. "I'm just sad to see you go, that's all."

"I'll write! I will, lots. And I'll be home for Christmas, too," Lily said, and hugged her mother around the middle. Ginny squeezed her back and kissed the top of her head.

"Have fun, love," Ginny said, and released her daughter. Harry hugged Lily, too, and helped her lift her trunk aboard the train. Albus moved and hugged his father, who whispered something in his ear.

Ginny moved and kissed both her boys. James grimaced, but hugged her back anyway. The three Potter siblings climbed onto the train. The doors were slammed behind them, and James hurried off to terrorize some of his friends. Albus stayed with Lily, however.

"You can come sit with me," he said kindly. "My friends won't mind."

"No, that's fine," Lily said with a weak smile. "I'll find somewhere to sit. Maybe I'll find Hugo or something," she said hopefully. Hugo was her cousin, and they were both starting their first year together.

"Okay. I'll ask Rose if she's seen him when I talk to her. We'll be sharing a compartment, you know." Rose, also a cousin of the Potter's, was in the third year with Albus. James was in the fourth. "I'll see you later, then."

"Yeah, bye," said Lily nervously, and Albus walked away to find Rose and some other third years.

Lily went off to find Hugo. After checking nearly everywhere on the train, she found him in an otherwise empty compartment near the back. He smiled broadly at her, his Weasley hair standing out brightly against his pale skin.

She sat across from her cousin, who had his wand in his hand and was practicing spells from a text book. Lily placed Maybelle's basket on the seat next to her and peeked inside; her kitten was dozing, curled up on the pink blanket inside. She closed the lid again.

"Have you managed anything yet?" she asked Hugo.

"No," he said sadly. "I've been trying to do this _Wingardium Leviosa_ charm, but it's not working. I'm horrible all ready."

"Don't say that," Lily scolded. "You can't expect to get it right away."

"I guess you're right," Hugo admitted, closing the book with a sigh. He looked around blankly for a moment, then noticed Lily's basket. "What's that?"

"My kitten! Want to see her?" she asked, pulling Maybelle out of the wickerwork.

"Sure," he said, beaming. Hugo gasped softly when the little grey kitten tumbled out onto Lily's lap. "She's cute."

"Isn't she just wonderful?" Lily said, tickling her white belly with her fingertip. Maybelle batted her paws at Lily's hand, and the girl giggled.

Then, the door opened. Both Hugo and Lily looked up to see a harried-looking girl with short brown hair cut bluntly across her forehead pull step into the compartment. She had brilliant blue eyes that made Lily jealous. She panted, out of breath.

"D'you mind if I sit here?" she asked them desperately. "Every where else is full!"

"Not at all," Hugo said, moving his book into his lap to make room for her. "I'm Hugo Weasley, by the way."

The girl sat down next to him and gazed at Maybelle, who was purring in Lily's lap. "I'm Grace Everheart."

"Nice to meet you, Grace. I'm Lily Potter," she said with a smile. "And this is Maybelle. She's my kitten."

"She's sweet," Grace said, reaching out to pat the kitten on the head. "Are you Harry Potter's daughter?"

"Yeah, I am," Lily said.

"Cool."

The three sat in silence for a while, Lily playing with Maybelle in her lap. Outside, a lush green countryside rushed past, the sky blue and full of white, puffy clouds. It was an absolutely perfect day. The anxiety Lily had been feeling since she got on the train was slowly fading away. She was sitting with her favourite cousin, and it looked as though she might be making a new friend.

Lily decided it was time to say something. "Any idea what House you'll be in?"

"No," Grace answered honestly. "I _think_ I'm headed for Ravenclaw, because I'm super-focused on my studies, but I don't think Gryffindor'd be too bad, or Hufflepuff. Just anything but Slytherin!"

Lily laughed. "I agree. I think Slytherin would be awful; it's notorious for Dark magic. I think I'd like Gryffindor. That's where my entire family has been!"

"Except for the Black's," chimed Hugo, "except we don't really count them as family; slimy gits, the whole lot of them."

Grace giggled. "I guess you're related to the Malfoy's, too," she said in a hushed whisper.

"Distantly," said Hugo indignantly. "I think Lily's great-great-grandfather married a Black or something."

"So there's no blood," Lily said, a little angrily. "It's blood that really counts!"

"You're right there," said Grace. "You're not _really_ related to them at all!"

"Thank Merlin," Hugo said. They all laughed, and the door of their compartment slid open again. The plump witch who pushed the lunch trolley was standing outside.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?" she asked.

The three exchanged smiles and hopped up to grab what they wanted; Hugo took a pile of Chocolate Frogs, and both Grace and Lily went for the same box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans. They laughed and decided to split the cost. Lily also grabbed a few of the Pumpkin Pasties she'd heard James go on about.

Money bags quite a bit lighter, they sat down to share their purchases. Grace opened the Beans and offered them to Lily. She took a handful and inspected them closely.

"I'd be careful with that one, if I were you," Hugo said, indicating a yellow bean in the palm of his cousin's hand. "I hear the lemons are _really _sour!"

"Let's give it a try then, shall we?" Lily said bravely, popping it into her mouth. Her eyes began to water as she chewed, and she puckered her lips. Grace giggled at her, and Hugo gave her an I-told-you-so look.

"With guts like that, you're _sure_ to be in Gryffindor!" Grace exclaimed as Lily gasped for breath.

Lily smiled. She hoped Grace was right.

The night was fast approaching; Lily had lost count of the hours and didn't bother to check her watch, but she was sure that they were almost at Hogwarts. Neither James nor Albus had come to check on her yet, but she hadn't expected it. They were probably catching up with their friends, or in James' case, playing tricks on the Slytherins. As she sat in the compartment with her new friend, Lily found she didn't mind it at all. She just hoped she and Grace would be in the same House; and Hugo, too.

The stars were beginning to pepper the rapidly-passing midnight blue sky. Lily glanced at Hugo, who was beginning to fall asleep on a pile of Chocolate Frog wrappers.

"Perhaps we should change into our robes," she suggested to Grace, who nodded. "I think we'll be getting there soon!"

She poked Hugo hard in the arm. He started and woke, blinking furiously. "Wazzamatter?"

"We're almost there," Lily burst, "come get changed into your robes!"

Lily had been right; no longer than the three first years been changed into their robes than the train began to slow. They stood in their compartment and gathered their things. Lily tucked Maybelle safely back into her basket and slung it over her arm. She moved to the door and out into the hallway of the train. The other students were also beginning to move about, collect their possessions and change last minute into their school robes. At last, the train came to a shuddering halt and the many doors were pulled open.

Sticking close to her companions, Lily stepped out into the cold evening air. The mob of students moved down the Platform and away from the train in groups of twos and threes, carrying their owls and chatting with friends. A deep voice bellowed, "Firs' years this way! Over here, firs' years!" With an uneasy glance at Grace, the three moved towards the voice.

A humongous figure was standing near the edge of the platform, swinging a lantern and calling into the crowd. He was at least twice the height of a normal person, and three times as wide. His beetle-black eyes twinkled merrily in the lantern-light from underneath the black wire that was his hair and beard. A small group of students were gathered around him, not one reaching past his belt.

When the crowd has dispersed and what appeared to be all the first years had gathered near the giant of a man, he smiled – or Lily _thought _he smiled, but the tangle of bushy beard simply twitched about – at the group of terrified looking students. One boy near Hugo looked as though he might cry.

"Welcome to Hogsmeade station," the man called happily. "My name is Hagrid, and I'm the gamekeeper and Care o' Magical Creatures professor at Hogwarts."

He looked around at the students, who were physically shaking with the cold and fear. Hagrid cleared his throat, and continued to speak.

"We're gonna take the boats across the lake to reach the school," he told them. "Everyone, follow me, and be careful yeh don't fall in the water; the Giant Squid won' be too pleased with yeh, I reckon…"

Lily wasn't sure whether she should laugh or not, but she knew that she instantly liked this enormous man. She, Grace and Hugo followed the rest of the students to the inky black lake, and they got their first glimpse of the looming castle. A few people gasped, and one cried out with excitement. A nervous giggled rippled through the group.

"No more'n three to a boat," Hagrid called, stepping uneasily into one himself and barely having room to sit down. He hung the lantern on an iron bar at the front. The rest of the students clambered into the little wooden boats and settled on the seats. "Let's go," Hagrid said, and the boats started to move forward.

The water rippled underneath the boats, and Lily peered over the side. Her reflection was muted by the sheer darkness of night, but she could still see her own expression, and found it impossible to read. This made her laugh a little; how could she not even know how she was feeling?

After a few minutes, the little boats shuddered to a stop. Hagrid was the first out, and helped the students out of the boats, one by one. When it was Lily's turn, he took her small hand in his dustbin lid-sized one and smiled kindly at her. She returned the smile weakly, and found that her knees were shaking slightly as she walked. So, she was nervous. At least she had one emotion in check.

Lily followed the rest of the first years up the great stone steps and through the huge oak double doors into the brightly lit Entrance Hall. Standing in front of yet another set of double doors opposite them was a short, plump wizard with a round, friendly face. He was smiling warmly at them, wearing a set of brown robes and a small wizard's hat.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," he said. "My name's Professor Longbottom. I'm the Herbology teacher and Head of Hufflepuff. In a few moments, you'll enter through these doors into the Great Hall where the rest of your peers are waiting. You'll be sorted into Houses, and you'll sit with your Houses for the feast tonight and the rest of your stay at Hogwarts.

"These Houses will be like your family. For your good behavior and triumphs, points will be awarded to your House. For your misbehavior, points will be taken away. The House with the most points at the end of the year will win the House Cup. The four Hogwarts Houses are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. You'll be sorted according to the qualities each house is looking for." Professor Longbottom finished his explanation with another smile. "Well," he said happily, "follow me!"

The group moved through the doors and into an enormous room. Four long tables ran up and down the room, and at the top, there was another, at which sat the staff. Professor Longbottom led the students up the aisle to the front of the room, where a three-legged stool sat. On top of the stool, an old, worn hat was placed. The students all stared at the hat, as though, any minute, it would burst into song…

A gap near the brim of the hat opened wide, like a mouth. A few of the older students clapped and whooped loudly as it began to sing.

"_A hundred years ago or more,_

_A group of friends, so true_

_Decided to open up a school_

_And teach the likes of you!_

_They opened up a school_

_In which they all would teach_

_But the students that they wanted_

_Widely varied for each_

_The four were undecided_

_On the way that they would choose_

_So they allowed me to decide; _

_Just gave me a few rules_

_For Ravenclaw, the fairest one_

_She valued intellect_

_The studious and conscientious_

_Are Ravenclaws, I'll bet_

_For Hufflepuff, so sweet and kind_

_Loyalty was best_

_And those who were hardworkers_

_Were marked Hufflepuffs by my test_

_For Gryffindor, so chivalrous_

_He wanted brave and strong_

_So if you are courageous_

_Gryffindor's where you belong_

_And Slytherin, the cunning one_

_Wanted those with great ambition_

_If you'll do anything to go far_

_Slytherin's my intuition_

_I try my best to help you_

_And place you where I see fit_

_If you have some fears or qualms_

_I'll take account of it_

_So come, sit down, and put me on_

_I'll listen to your head_

_If you think you know better than me_

_I'll wear you, instead!"_

The Great Hall burst into thunderous applause and the hat took a bow from its perch on the stool. Lily and Hugo joined in briefly, but before long, they were silenced by the over-dramatic clearing of Professor Longbottom's throat. He unrolled a scroll of parchment and addressed the first years.

"When I call your name, come on up and sit down. I'll put the hat on your head, and it'll tell you where to go!

"Aylward, Abigail!"

A slender girl with straight blonde hair scurried up to the stool and sat down. Professor Longbottom placed the hat on her golden locks, and barely had her hand away when the hat cried, "Hufflepuff!" The girl removed the hat, handed it back to the professor, and hurried down to the table which was cat-calling and clapping loudly.

Lily stood stalk-still as the Professor made his way down through the list. She cursed her name for being so far down as "Diggle, Justin" was sorted into Ravenclaw. She crossed her fingers, keeping her arms tight to her side, and prayed that she didn't turn beet-red when she walked up to the stool. The crowd slowly thinned around her as Longbottom came to the E's. Grace's turn came very quickly, and she nearly ran to the stool to sit down.

The hat was placed over her dark hair, and it slid nearly all the way down over her face. A few people laughed; it took a while for the hat to decide. After what seemed like an eternity, it cried, "Gryffindor!" The hat was removed from Grace's face and she skipped over to the Gryffindor table, taking a seat next to someone who looked like he could be her brother. Lily gave her new friend a happy thumbs up, but it felt like her stomach was being enclosed in iron. She just _had _to be in Gryffindor now!

Her whole family had been in the Lion house; Mum, Dad, both her brothers, both sets of her grandparents, all her aunts an uncles, as well, and her cousin, Rose! Lily was brave; she had to be, living with James. She was courageous and strong. But she was also a loyal friend, and very conscientious! Of course, she also had ambitions. She had qualities looked for in all the Houses! Perhaps she _wasn't _meant to be at Hogwarts after all! Maybe, when the Hat was placed on her head, it would throw itself off and cry that she was just too confusing to be Sorted. Then, surely, she'd be sent home and deemed a Squib, never to do magic again. Lily felt tears burn at the backs of her eyes, and she tried to blink them back. James was right; she was hopeless.

Lily looked up just as "Pitcher, Alice" was sorted into Slytherin. She knew she was next even before Professor Longbottom called her name. Numbly, she walked up to the stool and sat down hard. Gripping the sides of the rounded wood, she braced herself for the disappointment she was about to go through.

"_Hmm,"_ the hat whispered in her ear. _"Another Potter, I see. Well…There's plenty of courage, obviously, with your parents influence. And you're kind, yes, very kind and sweet. So quiet, though; I'd have expected you to be bolder! Lots of talent wrapped up in this pretty red hair, as well. And a great desire to prove yourself. You're a hard one to sort, Miss Potter…"_

"Please, not Slytherin," Lily whispered. "Anything but Slytherin…"

"_Not Slytherin, hey? So you are quite a bit like your father…But you have your mother's fire, that's for sure. Are you sure?"_

"Yes," Lily pleaded with the hat. "I'm positive!"

"_Alright then. Well, if it's not Slytherin…Better be…_"

"Gryffindor!" the hat shouted aloud, and the Hall erupted in furious applause again. Lily exhaled and ran to sit beside Grace.

James leaned down the table and winked at her, calling, "You were nervous!"

She grinned, feeling completely light hearted. She held her breath again as she watched Hugo step up to the stool. She crossed her fingers again, begging the Fates to be on her side one more time that night.


	3. Some Potentially Probable Problems

**Learning How To Shine**

**A/N: So, as a couple of people pointed out in my last chapter, I made a few mistakes. The Sorting Hat was destroyed by the Death Eaters in Deathly Hallows, and Neville Longbottom took over the position of Herbology teacher. Now, if you check back, Neville's been re-written into the story. However, I kept the Sorting Hat. Let's just say that it was fixed! Now, I'm not JKR! Enjoy, and please please please review!**

As her red-headed cousin sat down on the stool, Lily heard the distinct whoops of the Weasley cousins. Looking down the table, she saw Dominique, Roxanne, Lucy, Fred, Victoire, Louis, and Molly Weasley sitting at scattered intervals down the table, peering up at the youngest Weasley of the family. Rose, Hugo's sister, was gripping the edge of the table, her knuckles white. Lily smiled and turned her attention back to Hugo.

Professor Longbottom, or as Lily knew him, Neville, placed the hat on Hugo's flame-red hair. The small boy scrunched up his face in concentration, and within seconds, the hat cried, "Gryffindor!" Hugo was obviously relieved, and scurried over to sit by Lily. She gave him a reassuring smile, and they looked up to watch the rest of the Sorting.

Without the anticipation of being Sorted themselves, or having friends and family sorted, the actual ordeal went quite quickly. The Gryffindor House had gained three more female students and four more male, as Lily found out by asking around, and, "Zane, Rebecca" was the last first year to be sorted (Hufflepuff).

The attention of the entire Great Hall was then drawn to the centre of the staff table. A tall, severe, older-looking woman with emerald green robes stood up from her high-backed chair. The babble of chatter stopped almost instantly; Lily got a distinct impression that this woman was not one to cross. She cleared her throat into her fisted hand and smiled at them.

"Welcome," she said, her voice a merry Scots lilt, "to yet another year at Hogwarts. My name is Professor McGonagall, your Headmistress. To our old students, I hope this year is as enjoyable or more than the last. To our new students, I hope you find Hogwarts as wonderful as the rest of us.

"Before we begin our feast, I have a few notices to give out. The first; The Forbidden Forest, as you may assume, is _forbidden_ to all students. A few of us," she said, eyes darting to the Gryffindor table briefly, "would do well to remember that. Secondly; our caretaker, Mr Greer, has reminded me that the list of banned objects Mr Filch left us has been nearly doubled in side. If you are so inclined, the list is posted on Mr Greer's office door." The corners of Professor McGonagall's mouth twitched slightly upwards. She continued on.

"Thirdly; students are not permitted to be out of bed during the night. Curfew is the same for all students. You are expected to be in your common rooms by no later than ten o'clock. Any one caught out of bed after this time will be punished. Lastly, the Quidditch teams, it seems, have lost quite a few members due to graduation. Times for tryouts will be set by the Team Captains and posted on the bulletin board in your respective common rooms. If you wish to try out, please give your name to your Head of House.

"Now, if you please, let the feast begin."

As Professor McGonagall took her seat, the golden plates that lined each table filled magically with food. Everything Lily could imagine was pilled high; steak and kidney pie, roast chicken, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, boiled potatoes, huge ears of corn and eight different vegetable dishes among them. With a toothy grin at Grace, she pulled a plate of pork chops toward her and began to eat.

"This is great," Grace exclaimed, spooning gravy over her potatoes with relish. "I've never seen so much food in my life!"

"It tastes _amazing_," Lily marveled. "Do we eat like this every day?"

A fourth year who was sitting next to her smiled. "Yeah," he said, "just about. The House Elves are fantastic cooks!"

After a while, the near-empty plates of dinner vanished, only to be replaced with the puddings. Lily grabbed a slice of chocolate cake, feeling ready to burst but not wanting to miss out on her favourite desert. They ate until they couldn't eat any more; Hugo had turned slightly green with the effort to keep down his three helpings of ice cream.

Lily's eyes had started to droop. She couldn't believe how sleepy she was. Glancing up at the ceiling, she noticed that the stars were full-blaze in the perfectly clear sky. The moon shimmered directly overhead like a big white balloon. Professor McGonagall had stood up again.

"Well, after that fantastic feast," she said, her voice a little less commanding than before, "I think it's time for bed. Prefects, kindly escort the first years to your Common Rooms. Good night to you all."

There was a deafening scrape as the long benches were pushed back. The entire Hall had stood up at one, and moved towards the doors. A tall girl with cropped black hair in Gryffindor robes called down the table. "First years, follow us, please!" She stood up, followed by a light-haired boy, and the first years followed them out of the hall.

After a hike of what seemed to take a half an hour, up winding, moving staircases, the Gryffindors arrived at their Common Room. The portrait that hid the entrance was one of a Fat Lady in a billowing pink dress. She smiled serenely down at them.

"Password?" she hummed.

The girl Prefect turned to her charges. "There's a password to enter the Common Room. Mind you don't forget it, or you won't be able to get in. This term, it's _Juniper_."

With that, the Fat Lady swung forward to reveal the Gryffindor common room; a cozy place, covered in tables and comfortable looking chairs that were all upholstered in red fabric. The two Prefects led them into the room, which was already scattered with their fellow Gryffindors.

"Well, boy's dorms are up to the right, girls to the left," said the boy Prefect. "By the way, my name's Anthony Hubert, and this is…"

"Melanie Rose," chirped the girl. "We're here if you have any questions. Off to bed with you, now."

Lily took Grace by the hand, bid Hugo a good night, and they hurried up the stairs to the dorm marked "First Years". Lily threw open the door, and smiled at the sight. There were five four-poster beds, draped with silky red fabric. Her trunk and wicker basket were placed on the one nearest the window, and she ran over to it, plopping herself onto the down-filled bedspread. Grace did the same on the bed nearest hers and they grinned at each other.

"Fantastic first day, don't you think?" Grace asked her, kicking off her shiny black shoes.

"Wonderful," Lily agreed. She pulled Maybelle out of the basket and set her on the bed. The little grey kitten sniffed around curiously for a bit, then curled up on Lily's red pillow. She sighed contently.

"I wonder…" Grace started, but was interrupted when the door flew open. Three girls filed in, one after the other.

"Hi," said the shortest of the three. She had shoulder length, dirty blond hair and a rather turned up nose. Her grey-blue eyes were dull behind the fringe of a bang covering her forehead. "I'm Mary Marcel."

"Lily Potter," Lily introduced herself. "This is Grace Everheart," she said, indicating her friend.

"Pleasure," said the snobbish-looking blonde. She moved about the room, and sat down on her four-poster where her trunk was.

A second girl smiled a gap-toothed grin and moved to find her own trunk. "I'm Winifred Howe. You can call me Winnie, if you like. It's really nice to meet you," she said jubilantly. Lily instantly liked her better than Mary.

Grace smiled back at her. "And you."

The third girl didn't introduce herself. She merely sat down on the remaining bed and pulled the curtains closed around her. Grace and Lily exchanged a look; what was her problem?

Lily hopped up and moved to the girl's bed. She knocked on the hard wooden post and pulled the curtain aside. "What's your name?" she asked the girl.

"Odette," the girl whispered. "Odette Swan."

"That's a pretty name," Lily said kindly. The girl did not thank her; she merely turned her face away. Lily backed off and closed the curtains again.

"Well, now that we're all introduced," said Mary airily, "perhaps we should go to bed. Lessons start tomorrow, you know."

"Yes, we know," said Grace, rolling her eyes. She clearly thought Mary was as stuck-up as Lily did.

The four girls dressed in their nightgowns and crawled under the covers of their beds. Someone shut off the lights with a _click._ Lily snuggled up against the silky sheets in the nearly dark room, and Maybelle curled up by her head. Putting her hand under her pillow, she felt a piece of parchment. She pulled it out and noticed it was a letter from her Mum and Dad. Lily's stomach jumped excitedly.

"Psst, Grace," Lily whispered to her friend. Grace's eyes opened, sparkling in the moon light.

"What?" she whispered impatiently.

"Do you know the spell for making your wand light up?"

"Yeah, I think…its _Lumos_. I've heard my parents used it a thousand times."

"Thanks. Go back to sleep."

"Will do."

Lily eased herself out of her warm bed and her feet his the cold floor. She held in a wince and tip-toed to her trunk, laid it flat on the floor and popped open the golden clasps. She lifted the cover and, finding it very difficult in the dark, rooted around for her wand. She pulled it out and her heart fluttered joyously. Her first time doing magic! She concentrated with all her might on making the tip of her wand illuminate, and whispered, "_Lumos." _

The light wasn't very much, but still, it was there. Quickly, she got back in bed and pulled the covers up over her head. She ripped the envelope open as quietly as she could and unfolded the letter. It read:

"_Dear Lily,_

_Congratulations on making Gryffindor! Neville owled us as soon as you were Sorted. We're so proud of our little girl! We knew you had what it takes!_

_Dad and I hope you're settling in well, and making lots of new friends. Be good, stay out of trouble, and don't hesitate to write if you need anything or just want to talk. Don't let James push you around, do well in your studies, try not to cross Professor McGonagall and make us proud!_

_Love you, darling,_

_Mum."_

Lily folded up the letter and put it back under her pillow. She was so pleased that her Mum and Dad were proud of her for making Gryffindor! They knew she had it in her all along. She sighed and closed her eyes, hoping that the next day would be as good as her first.

*

The next morning, after getting dressed quickly in their magically transformed Gryffindor robes, the five girls went down to the Great Hall for breakfast together. They chatted unfocusedly about their upcoming subjects and their favourite foods until a teacher starting moving up and down the rows of students, handing out pieces of parchment.

"They're our time tables," Mary said with a know-it-all air. "It tells us the times and things of our lessons."

"Ooh," Grace exclaimed excitedly. "I can hardly wait!"

They watched the pretty young witch prowl the tables, passing out various time tables, with anticipation. None of the girls had touched their breakfast when she approached, smiling at them.

"Good morning, girls," she said in a pretty, high-class accent. "Here are your timetables. First years, right?" The girls all nodded. "Very well!" She tapped the blue-tinted parchment with her wand, and five identical sheets were produced. Each girl took one.

"Ah, well, I'll see you for first class – Transfiguration!" She walked away, and Lily stared after her for a moment; she seemed very, very nice.

Already, Lily liked her Transfiguration teacher. She hoped it would play a role in her enjoyed the class. Being the subject she most wanted to learn, having Transfiguration first was an excellent start to her day.

"I wonder if she's a Head of House," Lily mused aloud. Her friend's attention directed toward her, she prepared herself for Mary's explanation. And it came.

"Well, of course she is – She's Head of Gryffindor. She took over when McGonagall became Headmistress. I hear she's much nicer," Mary said with a tone of contempt.

"How do you _know_ so much?" Grace asked, exasperated.

"My older sister keeps me informed," Mary said, glaring slightly. Grace rolled her eyes.

"I wish my brother told me that much," said Grace, pouting. "He didn't even tell me what we had to do to be sorted!"

Winnie laughed, "My cousin told me we'd have to duel each other. I was so nervous!"

Mary opened her mouth to tell the girls they were being ridiculous, but her speech was cut short by the shrill ringing of the bell.

"Time to go to class, d'you reckon?" Winnie asked the girls. The rest of the table was getting up and grabbing their bags.

"Yeah, I'd say," said Grace. They took their things and traipsed off to Transfiguration.

It didn't take them too long to figure out where they were going; apparently, someone had asked a Prefect where they were supposed to be, and had been pointed in the right direction. The girls followed a flow of first year students up two flights of stairs and down a hallway. They came to a halt outside a room, where another group of students had gathered. Noticing their green and silver ties, Lily assumed they were Slytherin. _Great,_ she thought to herself.

She nudged Grace in the ribs and pointed towards the Slytherins. Grace moaned softly, and they both giggled. A haughty-looking, brown-haired boy stepped forward, his arm linked with a sour faced blond girl.

"Judging by the red hair," said the boy, "I'd imagine you're none other than a Weasley." His lackeys laughed stupidly, and the boy smirked.

"Actually, you're wrong," Lily said, crossing her arms over her chest. "My name's Potter."

The boy's silver eyes widened slightly, but he didn't lose his composure. "Close enough. You'd be Lily, then?"

"Yeah," she said defiantly. "Who're you?"

"Reynard Sly," said the boy with a self-impressed smirk. Grace rolled her eyes.

"What kind of name is that?" she laughed.

"Have a problem with my name, do you?" he said menacingly, approaching her. "And what's yours, then?"

"Grace Everheart."

Reynard barked a laugh. "Let me guess. You're a Mudblo-"

"_Don't _call her that," a voice shrilled from behind Lily. She whipped around to see Odette red in the face, clutching her wand tightly in her fist.

"And why not?" Reynard challenged, drawing his own wand.

Lily looked between the two; she was completely shocked that the boy had even begun to use such a vile term against her friend, but she was even more so that Odette had come to her defense. They had only met the night before, and Odette had been extremely quiet. She made a mental note to get to know her better.

"I'll hex you into oblivion!" cried Odette. Lily drew her own wand, not knowing what she'd do if it came to a fight, but she figured she'd look prepared anyway. She glanced at Grace, who looked very close to tears.

"I'd like to see you try," Reynard said silkily. The small group of students held it's collective breath. Mary and Winnie backed up against the wall with the rest of the Gryffindors, and the Slytherins backed a little further down the hall. They formed a sort of circle around Reynard and his blond arm candy, Odette, Grace and Lily.

"Let her alone," said Reynard's girlfriend. "She'll only get you in trouble; so not worth it, Rey."

"You're right," he replied, stowing his wand back in the pocket of his robes and glaring at Lily's group. "She's only a filthy Mud-"

Reynard's insult was cut short yet again by the door of the classroom opening with a bang against the wall. Their teacher stood, hands on her hips, looking quite ready to scream. She glared down at the boy, who seemed to cower away from her stare.

"I suggest you refrain from using that term when I'm in ear shot, Mr Sly," she said, then turned to the rest of her students. "Come in, please."

The group filed past her quickly, and Lily had a strange feeling in her stomach. Had she just ruined her chances of this teacher liking her? She sat down between Grace and Winnie, staring straight ahead and ignoring their attempts to engage her in conversation. The sharp click of heels on stone floor reached her ears, and Lily had butterflies.

Their Transfiguration professor could have been pretty – exceptionally pretty – if she hadn't been fixing her students with a stare that could melt glaciers. Her brownish-blondish hair was short, cut almost like a boy, but it suited her. Fluttery lashes framed her pale blue eyes, which were lined expertly in black liner. Her lips weren't thin, nor were they thick, but a pleasant shape and rose in colour. Her thin eyebrows were furrowed so tightly that they nearly met at the centre.

"I don't want to know what happened outside my classroom," she told them sternly, "nor do I want to know who started it, but I'd just like to assure you, it will not be tolerated. Fighting of any kind is unacceptable, do you understand?" No one said anything; a couple of people looked guiltily at their shoes, and Grace whimpered to her left. Lily glanced to see her eyes brimming with tears.

The Transfiguration Mistress cleared her throat and rearranged her features into a more pleasant expression. "Now, let's start over, shall we? I'm Professor Dixie, and this is my third year teaching at Hogwarts. Transfiguration was my favourite subject in school, at it remains that way now!"

Now that they weren't being scolded, Lily noticed that Professor Dixie's voice was rather musical. She enjoyed listening to her talk, and figured that was a good thing.

"Transfiguration is all about transforming one thing into another! It's easier to do when two things are similar in size, shape or materials, but it's not impossible to transfigure two completely unrelated objects! It just takes quite a bit of practice.

"Human Transfiguration is the most difficult branch of the subject. Most times, it is irreversible. Of course, there's always the Animagi transformation, but that requires years of training and studying!"

A girl in Slytherin raised her hand. Professor Dixie's eyebrows raised, but she nodded her recognition, and the girl said, "Professor, are you an Animagus?"

Professor Dixie smiled. "Yes, actually, I am! Would you like to see?"

There were excited cheers and a few people clapped. The Syltherin girl cried, "Yes, please!"

"Very well! Everyone, watch closely." The professor closed her eyes, and Lily tired not to blink as she turned slightly on the spot, and in her place was a full-grown Golden Retriever with a silky, shining coat and huge blue eyes. The dog's eyes were lined thickly black, just as their teacher's had been. A few girls gasped, and with a sharp snap, Professor Dixie was back.

"Cool, Professor," called Hugo from the back of the class. Lily's head turned towards him and he smiled at her.

"Thank you, Mr Weasley," she said happily. "Now, if you'll take out your note books and quills, we have a few notes to take down before we attempt our first spell…"

*

Transfiguration flew quickly, as did the rest of the morning. Lily's stomach was rumbling audibly by lunch time, and she, Grace, Hugo, Odette and Winnie hurried down to the Great Hall. They took their seats at the Gryffindor table, none of them missing Mary very much.

"Professor Dixie is just lovely, isn't she?" gushed Lily to her friends.

"She's very sweet," agreed Winnie. "I love her Animagus! It's gorgeous!"

"So is she," Hugo added. They all laughed.

"Did any of you find that spell hard?" Grace asked them, helping herself to a sandwich. "I couldn't get it at all!"

"Nor could I," Odette said quietly, sounding a little crestfallen.

Lily kept her mouth shut. She hadn't wanted to tell her friends, but she had managed to transfigure her match into a needle on her second go. She was exceptionally pleased with herself, and grateful that she had caught on to the subject so quickly. All summer, she'd been reading Albus' and James' Transfiguration text books, imagining what her classes would be like and trying to commit the spells and theory to memory. Apparently, her preparation had paid off. Professor Dixie hadn't said anything to her, but she had given her a wide smile before Lily hid the needle away in her school bag.

Thinking back on the confrontation before class, Lily glanced at Grace. She seemed to be faring much better than she had first period, but there was something missing in her sparkling eyes. Lily made a mental note to ask her about it later; they hadn't discusses parentage or blood status yet. Lily had been consciously putting it off; she knew there'd be a bombardment of questions about both her parents. They were wildly known for having a direct impact in the Final Battle at Hogwarts. Her father was, after all, The-Boy-Who-Lived.

Lily also planned on asking Grace to accompany her to the library during their afternoon break to look up some dueling spells. After their run-in with Reynard and his gang of Slytherins that morning, she needed to be prepared for the worst. She was no dab hand at magic yet, that was for certain, but if she studied the theory enough, and with a bit of practice, she was sure she'd be able to get it.

The letter her mother had written her floated into Lily's mind. Make us proud, she had said. Lily wondered if learning how to duel properly would be her mother's definition of proud. Chuckling to herself, she imagined her expression if Lily told her what she was planning to do. Well, obviously her mother had been quiet the dueler in her day; her father, too! But had they started at such an early age? Probably, Lily told herself.

With their first Care of Magical Creatures lesson to look forward to right after lunch, the first years wolfed down their food and headed out to the grounds. It was another beautiful day; the autumn wind was still warm, and the leaves on the deciduous trees were just starting to turn colour. The five first years approached Hagrid's cabin at the edge of the Forbidden Forest with nervous smiles on their faces. Mary came running after them down the sloping grass bank, insisting that they were obviously ignoring her on purpose and that she didn't appreciate it at all.

"We're not ignoring you," Winnie said honestly. "We just didn't know where you were!"

"Oh, a likely story," Mary said, and stalked off towards the cabin with her nose held in the air.

"What's up with her?" Hugo asked the girls. They all shook their heads.

"Grace," Lily said to her friend, grabbing her elbow and steering her slightly away from the rest of the group. "I was just wondering, would you want to come to the library with me during break?"

"For what?" Grace asked suspiciously. "We don't have any homework yet!"

"Not for that," said Lily with a laugh. "I wanted to look up some defensive spells and stuff, you know, just to be safe. That Syltherin gave be a weird feeling today, and I figured we could look up some jinxes and learn the theory, just in case!"

"Yeah, okay," Grace said enthusiastically, "but only if we can practice on Mary!"


	4. A Taste of Your Own Medicine

**Learning How To Shine**

**A/N: So, as one of my LOVELY reviewers pointed out to me, CoMC starts in the third year, not the first. I'll clear that up in this chapter. I hope you're enjoying the story! Thanks for the reviews, HorribleHolly, Phillip and ****ngayonatkailanman****. I appreciate them! Enjoy this next chapter, and please, review! It only takes a second and makes me feel really good. **

Hagrid came out of his cabin to greet the first years looking extremely nervous. He wrung his dustbin lid hands and gave them all a weary smile. Lily, Grace and Hugo moved up closer to the front of the group, eager to see what Hagrid had in store.

"Welcome to yer firs' Care o' Magical Creatures lesson," he said, sounding much more brave than he looked. "It's a day o' firs's, it seems. My firs' time teachin' firs' years, an' yer firs' time begin' taught this…" he trailed off, scratched his head, and went on. "Well, today's lesson is gonna be real easy an' slow. We're gonna take a look at some very int'restin' creatures to take care of…"

He turned back to the cabin, grabbed a large wooden box and set it down at Lily's feet. With a grunt, he pried off the lid that had been nailed shut, scooped his hand down inside the box and pulled out a chipmunk. It sat nervously in the middle of his hand, sniffing the air, and Hagrid held it out for every one to see.

"That's a chipmunk," cried a Ravenclaw boy Lily remembered from the Sorting. She searched her mind for his name…Justin Diggle, she recalled. "There's nothing magical about _those_. I have them in my garden at home!"

Hagrid looked slightly flustered for a moment, but then said, "Yes, well, these aren't actually chipmunks. They're called Grazdar's, and they're right useful little things. They like to make things tidy, see, so if yeh bring 'em in yer room or summat, they'll clean it up for yeh!"

A couple of people exchanged glances and excited mutterings. Lily stood on tip-toe to get a better look at the Grazdar, and she thought it was not only useful, but quite adorable. It looked more like a cartoon character than an animal, with big, animated looking eyes and over-sized teeth.

"What are we going to do with them?" asked Hugo interestedly.

"Yer gonna make 'em tidy!" Hagrid said with a booming laugh. "I got each of yeh a box of parchment scraps and unwashed dishes, so four to a Grazdar, and just make sure they don't run off lookin' for somethin' else t'clean. I want notes on what the darlin's look like before an' after they have their fun, passed in at the end o' class. One per group is plenty."

So, Hagrid went about passing out boxes and Grazdars, and Lily rummaged through her backpack to find some parchment and a quill. She partnered up with Hugo and Grace, and she glanced over to where the rest of her friends were standing. Mary and Winnie had paired with two very good-looking Ravenclaw boys and were giggling and batting their eyelashes. Odette was standing off to the side, looking rather lost.

"Odette," Lily called, waving at her friend. "Come join us!"

Grace gave her a sharp look. "What'd you do that for?"

"She didn't have a group," Lily pointed out. "Poor thing, she's so quiet no one will even try to make friends with her."

"Yes, well, let's follow that example, shall we?" Grace said huffily.

"Don't be like that, Grace," pleaded Lily. "I like her even if she's not chatty!"

"You should have been a Hufflepuff," said Grace, and crossed her arms. Lily stared at her, eyes wide and begging for a moment, and then she said, "Fine, but just because you're my only friend."

Lily laughed as Odette joined their group. "I am not! You have the others, too."

"Well, what good are they, flirting up a storm with the Ravenclaws. We're in competition with them, don't they know? That's fraternizing with the enemy! They should be ashamed," Grace said dramatically, narrowing her eyes and lowering her voice. Lily and Hugo laughed, and Odette smiled weakly.

They knelt to their box, and watched the Grazdar scurry about, stuffing the parchment and full dishes in its cheeks. Lily took descriptive notes as the little rodent swelled in size; by the time the box was empty, it was the same height and length of a miniature schnauzer.

"I've never seen anything like that before," Odette whispered to Lily. She smiled at the quiet girl.

"Me neither! It's so cool," she replied.

"Alrigh', then," Hagrid called. "Hand your notes to me and put the Grazdar's back in their box. Mind you don't…"

His speech was cut short when Mary screamed. Her Grazdar, it seemed, had slipped out of the cardboard box and into her school bag, and was proceeding to eat her very untidy notes.

"…Let them near your things," Hagrid finished with a sigh. He hurried over to help Mary pull the chipmunk off of her bag, while the rest of the class doubled over in laughter.

*

"All in all, very eventful day, wouldn't you say?" Grace asked Lily as they headed to the library after Care of Magical Creatures.

"So far," Lily agreed with a chuckle. "I wonder how Mary made out after."

Grace screwed up her face. "Who cares? That girl bugs me!"

"Me too, but I still feel poorly for the Grazdar eating her things."

"Well, maybe she'll learn to take neater notes!" said Grace.

Lily laughed again. "I suppose so."

The two girls entered the library side by side. After a quick look around, they discovered that it was completely empty.

"That's convenient," Grace told Lily as they settled into a table in the Defense section.

"Why?" Lily asked, setting her bag on the table and taking out some parchment.

"Because," she replied, "don't you realize how _bad _it would look if someone found us looking for Defensive spells? In our first year?"

Lily thought about that for a second. "You're so right. We'd look like total hooligans."

On that note, Lily checked over her shoulder before standing to look at the books. No one but Madam Pince, the horrid, ancient librarian had joined them in the library. She stalked through the shelves, keeping a sharp eye on the first years. Lily took a few promising-looking books off the shelf and sat back down next to Grace.

"Here," she said, handing her _Curses and Counter-Curses; A Beginners Guide to Self-Defense._

"Thanks." Grace flipped the book open to the index, then looked at Lily. "Do you think we'll ever need these?"

"I hope not," Lily admitted. "But it's nice to be prepared." She took her own book, _Defensive Spells for Desperate Students _and began to read through the introduction. After skimming the pages, she came across a spell that caught her eye.

"'_Stupefy' is the most common and useful defensive jinx known to wizard. It disables your opponent fully, leaving them unconscious and unable to defend themselves. Its counter-jinx is 'Enervate' and will wake your opponent up again. One should be careful when dueling in a group, however, as more than one Stunning Spell at a time is nearly always fatal."_

Lily dipped her quill in her ink and wrote, '_stupefy – stunning spell' _on the top of the page. She continued to leaf through her book and came across a few more, promising spells.

"What'd you find?" Lily asked Grace after about ten minutes.

"Er," Grace said, glancing back down at her paper. "I have _Stupefy, Immobilus, Petrificus Totalas,_ and _Protego, _which is a Shield Charm." She looked back up at Lily. "How about you?"

Lily giggled. "The same."

"I guess it's true what they say," Grace said, folding up her list. "Great minds think alike!"

"I'd just love the chance to use these on one of those Slytherins," Lily said, a malicious glint in her brown eyes. "Can you imagine that git, Reynard, lying face-first on the ground not able to move! That'd show him not to mess with us!"

"Hey," Grace whined, pouting her lower lip. "I thought we agreed to practice on Mary!"

Lily copied Grace, folding her parchment up and moving to put it in her bag. Before she managed to do so, however, someone came up from behind her and grabbed her hand.

"Not so fast," said a high-pitched, unrecognizable voice. She wasn't sure if it was male or female, but before she could turn around to see for herself, a hand was placed over her eyes. Her breathing increased in pace and she began to wonder why Grace wasn't screaming for help or saving her or casting spells or doing _something_. She was being assaulted here! Weren't they just taking down spells in case something like this happened?

"What have we here?" asked the same voice, yanking the parchment out of her hand. Grace giggled next to her, and although her eyes were covered, she glared at her through her captive's hand.

"If you would be ever so kind," Lily growled, attempting to wrestle her head away, "let me go!"

"If you say so," said a more familiar voice. She was seething when _he_ took his hand away from her face. She whipped around in her seat to face him.

"James, you arrogant toe-rag," Lily fumed. "What was the point of that?" Her brother shot her a toothy grin and held the list over her head. She jumped up out of her seat and grabbed her wand from her bag, pointing it at him. "Give that back," she growled.

"I'd be real scared, Lil," he said sarcastically, "if you had an extra copy of these spells to use on me. However, due to the fact that you _don't…"_

"Oh, but she does," Grace giggled, handing Lily her own copy of the list. Lily unfolded them and picked one. She aimed her wand at James.

"Give them back, dearest brother," she said in a false-sweet voice. "Pretty please?"

"Not a chance," he said, skipping off with the parchment held loftily in the air. Lily chased after him, and Grace fell in step.

"Use the immobilizing one, Lily," she shouted.

Lily took careful aim and shouted, "_Immobilus!" _at James' retreating back. He froze mid-step, one foot in the air and the other planted firmly on the ground. The only thing that moving on her brother were his eyes. Lily laughed.

"I _told _you to give it back," Lily cried in a sing-song voice. She yanked the list out of James' frozen, outstretched hand and held it up victoriously. "That'll show you who not to mess with."

"Nice shot," said a musical voice from behind her. Lily whipped around to find Professor Dixie leaning against the door frame of the library entrance, looking half disappointed, half amused. Lily hid the list of spells behind her back, feeling herself turn beet red. Grace stood beside her, mouth open in shock.

"P-professor," Lily stammered, not sure what to say. "I…James was just…Grace and I…He took…I didn't mean…It's just…You see…I can explain, really…Brothers…I know it's not allowed, but…You know…I'm sorry?" Lily finished, finding herself on the verge of tears.

Professor Dixie didn't say anything for a moment; she looked at Lily, at Grace, and then at James, who was still standing immobilized. She seemed to think over the situation, and then, to Lily's surprise, she let out a loud laugh. Lily giggled nervously, glancing at Grace out of the corner of her eye; her friend was standing just as still as James, looking as though the woman standing before them was crazy.

"Very well, Miss Potter," said Professor Dixie through her giggles. "No harm done. It's quiet an easy spell to reverse," she said, pointed her own wand at James and called, "_Finite Incantantem!" _James immediately unfroze, shook his entire body violently, then rounded on Lily.

"I hope she gives you detention," he spat, glaring daggers at her, and stormed from the library, muttering about missing his own first year at Hogwarts. Lily stared at him for a moment until he was out of sight, then her attention was regained by her professor.

Lily hung her head. "When would you like me to serve it?"

Professor Dixie looked confused. "Serve what?"

"My detention, of course," Lily said, just as confused.

"Detention? Whatever gave you that idea?" Professor Dixie said pleasantly. "You're not getting a detention!"

Lily felt her jaw drop open. "You're not going to punish me?" She looked at Grace, who was smiling.

"Of course not! Unless you'd like me to, which can be arranged, I suppose…" Professor Dixie trailed off, looking delightfully mischevious.

"No," said Lily quickly, "but –"

"Goats butt," interrupted Professor Dixie, "birds fly, and this professor doesn't give detention to sisters who give their brothers a taste of their own medicine!"

Lily almost whooped with joy. "Wonderful! Thank you, Professor!"

She smiled. "No problem, dear. Now, perhaps you should collect your things and get to class; there's only a few minutes left of the break!"

"Yes, Professor," the girls chorused and ran to get their bags off the table.

"What do you have next?" Professor Dixie asked.

"Charms," said Grace.

Lily beamed. "I'm rather excited about that," she gushed. "It's my favourite class besides Transfiguration!"

"Good," said Professor Dixie and clapped her hands together. "A very useful class, to my way of thinking," she said with a nod. "Off you get, girls!"

Grace and Lily exchanged a glance, then scurried off down the hall. When they were moving to turn a corner, Professor Dixie called, "Lily!"

Lily skidded to a halt. "Yes, Professor?"

"How about tea in my office on Saturday? I have a book I think you might find interesting!"

"That'd be wonderful," Lily called back, smiling.

"Excellent! Come down at around two, if you like. Now run along!"

Lily hurried off down the hall, feeling happier than she had in a while. Tea, with Professor Dixie! How exciting, she thought, and she quickened her pace to catch up with Grace. They came to the Charms classroom only a moment later, and as they took their seats, Lily told Grace about the invitation she had received. Grace's blue eyes flashed enviously.

"She's so nice," Grace said, sounding a little disappointed at not being invited to go along, as well. "You'll have to tell me all about it when you get back!" Lily nodded, and turned her attention to their professor, who was beginning to teach them about the Levitating Charm.

*

Lily sat in the common room after classes that day with her Charms book open to the page on the spell they had learned that day in class. For homework, they had been instructed to practice the spell on objects a little heavier than feathers. Lily, who had moved on to marbles in class, was now amusing herself by making her friends possessions soar about the room.

Mary and Hugo were sitting on the sofa, Charms books, parchment and quills spread around them. Winnie was sitting cross-legged on the floor, concentrating very, very hard on a feather she had taken from the Charms class. She was finding the subject very difficult, indeed. Odette was lying flat on her stomach by the fire place, chin on her hands, reading the section about the spell for the third time. Grace was perched on the arm of Lily's chair, giggling wildly as Maybelle chased her Levitating cat toy about the room.

With a sigh, Lily dropped the mouse-on-a-string in front of Maybelle. The little grey tabby pounced on it, took it in her mouth and pranced over to Lily's feet. She blinked her great blue eyes up at her, and Lily laughed.

"Good girl," she sat affectionately. "One of these days you'll be a great hunter!"

"Let's just hope she doesn't start taking down owls," Hugo said with a snort.

Winnie looked up with a groan, and turned to Lily. "Can't you help me?" she pleaded. "I can't get this – stupid – thing – to – fly!" she cried, accentuating every word with a sharp jab of her wand. The feather burst into flames and withered away to nothing. A group of fourth-years who had been watching burst into fits of laughter. Winnie glared at them.

Lily hopped down and moved to sit next to Winnie. "It's not a jab," she said, taking her friends wand gently from her hand. "It's more of a flick," she explained, flicking her wrist and muttering, "_Wingardium Leviosa!" _She pointed at Odette's book, and it flew gracefully into the air. Odette grinned, and Lily pulled the wand away. The book fell back to the ground with a _thump_.

"Very good, Lily," said Albus, approaching the first years with one of his friends. "You seem to be getting along just fine already! It took me a lot longer than that to make books levitate!"

"I still can't do it," added the curly haired boy. "I'm Eddie, by the way." Lily's friends greeted him with a chorus of welcome.

"And I'm Albus, Lily's brother," Albus added. She saw Grace blush a little and look away. Lily giggled.

"Very nice to meet you, boys," Mary said formally, but she didn't sound pleased at all. She grabbed her books and wand and folded them in her arms across her chest. "If you'll please excuse me, I'd rather be _alone_ when trying to learn something new!" She flicked her hair over her shoulder and headed up to the dorms.

Grace sighed. "She's a hard case."

"Isn't she, though," Hugo said, closing up his book as well. "I can't concentrate on this at all! I'll just have to wait until tomorrow in class."

"Might as well," Winnie said, flicking her wand with all her might and not getting any results. "This is impossible!"

Odette sat up and held her own wand out. She muttered, "_Wingardium Leviosa,"_ and pointed at her own book. It floated in the air for a few seconds, and she gasped, breaking concentration and the spell. It thumped back onto the rug. Lily clapped her hands, and the remaining group joined her.

"Good job, Odette," Lily said enthusiastically. "You did well!"

"It didn't stay up, though," she said sadly.

"You just got nervous, that's all," said Lily reassuringly. "If you don't break your concentration, it'll stay up for sure!"

"If you say so," Odette nearly whispered. She, like Mary, closed up her books and retreated to the dorms. Lily stared after her sadly, and Albus and Eddie sat down with them. Grace jumped off the arm of Lily's chair and went to sit next to Albus. He smiled at her, and her eyes widened.

"How are you finding classes?" Albus asked her. Grace mumbled incoherently for a moment, then averted her eyes. Lily laughed.

"What's funny?" Grace asked, glaring daggers at her.

"N-nothing," Lily said, and clamped her hand over her mouth. Winnie joined Lily in her giggles, and Hugo, Albus and Eddie watched the girls, clearly out of the loop.

The portrait hole opened and someone entered the room. Lily looked up, and noticed it was Professor Dixie. She nudged Grace with her toe and indicated the teacher with a nod of her head. Grace looked behind her, then turned and smiled at Lily.

"Excuse me," called the professor, approaching the seating area where Lily sat. "If you don't mind, would you all gather round here please? I'd like to speak to you all, and introduce myself."

There was a flurry of activity as the rest of the Gryffindors moved over to where Professor Dixie was standing. They seated themselves on the arms of the chairs and on the floor, all heads turned toward her. For such a young woman, Lily thought, she sure commanded a lot of attention.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts," she started. The glow of the fire in the hearth lit up her face, and she looked more radiant than before. "I know you've already been officially welcomed, but I wanted to do it myself! My name, for those of you who don't know me, is Professor Dixie! I'm your Head of House, and the Transfiguration teacher. I'm very impressed with our turnout this year, wouldn't you agree?" A couple of people nodded, and some older boys clapped and whooped.

"Well, to start off on the right foot," she said, "I'd like to give you a little insight into our House! No -," she said, noticing a few reluctant groans, "I'm not talking about the history of Godric Gryffindor! I'm talking about our _house_ – our Lions!

"Does anyone know what a group of lions are called? No? It's a Pride! And that's what I feel for being the Head of the Lion House! I'm very proud to say that you all are my Gryffindors. I see much, much promise in the younger students and Professor McGonagall agrees in the fact that our older students are fantastic, too!

"So, I know there are a few of us here who are unsure about if we belong. I don't want anyone to feel left out! Our group of Lions is led by a fiercely protective Alpha female," she laughed, indicating to herself, "and we have a few Lions younger than me who are here to help! I'm talking about our seventh year students, and our Prefects. Melanie, Anthony, please stand up!"

The Prefects that had led the first years to the common room the night before stood and waved off some mocking claps and cheers from their friends. Professor Dixie smiled.

"So, I'd just like to assure you, this year is going to be super! I'm here for anything if you need me, as are our Prefects, so don't hesitate to ask them anything, and if you're uncomfortable with that, or you just need someone a little older and wiser, my door is always open!

"Now, any questions?" she asked the group, scanning them with her piercing blue eyes. A seventh-year boy raised his hand, and she pointed to him. "Yes?"

"Are you married?" he asked boldly. A few of his mates patted him on the back or laughed.

"No, I'm not," she asked, looking suspicious. "Why?"

"I was just wondering if you'd like to go to Hogsmeade with me for the first trip."

Professor Dixie looked appalled. Her eyes narrowed at the boy, who immediately stopped laughing. "I'm flattered," she answered, though she didn't sound it in the least, "but that's rather inappropriate, wouldn't you agree?" He swallowed hard and nodded. "Now, any serious questions?"

No body raised their hands.

"That'll be all for tonight," she said in a lighter tone. "Thank you for your time! You're all free to return to your studies or merry-making! Go on!" she said, ushering them off with her hands. The crowd dispersed, and Lily, Albus, Winnie, Eddie, Hugo and Grace were the only students left around her.

Professor Dixie stepped over to Lily, looking rather pleased with herself. She smirked. "Rather bold, wasn't he?"

"Oh yes, Professor," Lily agreed vehemently. "How rude!"

"I get that every year," she said with a sigh, sitting down on the arm that Grace had abandoned. "However, I do so love the welcoming speech. It gives a good feeling to the students."

"Too right it does," Albus said with a smile. "This year was much better than last year, Professor!"

"Thank you, Albus," she smiled kindly at him. "And much better, wouldn't you say, than the first?"

"Yeah," Eddie said, grinning. "If I remember correctly, someone asked if you were the Head Girl."

"You do look rather young," Lily said with a laugh.

"You do look rather young," said a mocking, nasally voice from behind her. Her head whipped around to see James swaggering down the boy's staircase with two of his friends. "Stop sucking up, Lil," he sneered.

"Stop picking on her, James," said a commanding voice from somewhere to Lily's right. She looked around for the source of it, and found her cousin Molly approaching with Hugo's sister, Rose. "You're supposed to be looking out for her!"

"That's Albus' job," he said. "And who're you, my mother?"

"No," Rose answered, "but she _did_owl all the Weasley cousins to tell us to keep an eye out for you!"

James' mouth dropped open. "So, what, I've got you two, Lucy, Fred, Victoire, Louis, Dominique, and Roxanne all on my tail?"

"Yup," Molly said with a smirk. "And don't forget Teddy."

James scoffed. "Precious Teddy Lupin, Bighead Boy of the world," he said with a laugh.

"Watch it, Potter," Teddy said icily, coming down from the boy's staircase behind James. James groaned.

"Do you all have ESP or something?" he cried, looking searchingly at Albus. "And look, we've got the whole family on our backs!"

"They haven't been told to look out for me," he said, shrugging. "I've nothing to worry about!"

"That's 'cause you're looking out for me, too!" James growled. "I'm _doomed_!"

"That you are, Jamesie, that you are," Rose said with a reassuring pat on his shoulder. He shrugged her off.

"Well, perhaps I ought to get to bed," Professor Dixie said, "I don't want to be caught in the middle of a Weasley-Potter family duel." Everyone laughed, even James. "I can only imagine what the rest of you can do, if Lily's only a first year and she can Immobilize her brother!" Lily's family rounded on her.

"Professor!" groaned James, shooting her a glare.

"You _hexed _him?" cried Rose, looking impressed.

"Lily, you're not supposed to do magic outside of class!" Molly chastised.

"Was it a good one?" asked Hugo, looking very interested.

"Did he deserve it?" one of James' friends chimed in.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Winnie burst.

"How long was he stuck for?" added Teddy, beaming at Lily. She laughed and shook her head as if trying to sort out all their questions. Professor Dixie slipped off the arm of Lily's chair and put a hand on her shoulder.

"So, two o'clock on Saturday still okay?" she asked with a small smile. Lily nodded and turned her attention back to her cousins, friends and brothers. They were all watching her with mild interest, or in James' case, envy. She couldn't _wait _to owl her parents about _this _one!

**A/N: Please review! It's only easy, really, I swear. It won't kill you! Make my day? I'll respond really nicely! Please?**


	5. Friends, Fiends & Everything in Between

**Learning How to Shine**

**A/N: Glad my three readers are enjoying this, haha. I'm having a lot of fun writing it, anyway! I hope the people who are reading it and just not reviewing like it, too! It'd be great to know if you are, so.. Review? :)**

The rest of Lily's week went by in a flash. She was being praised up in the clouds by her teachers in all subject areas, especially Transfiguration. Her friends watched her enviously was she excelled, but she didn't boast or brag about her good marks and talent. Instead, she tutored them, giving them tips that made things easier for her, and her positive influence showed. Even Mary had come to her looking for help with her Potions essay, "only to be proof-read," she had said, but Lily had re-written the introduction so Mary's grade was bumped from an "Acceptable" to "Exceeds Expectations".

By Friday evening, the first years were exhausted. Their lessons had been draining them of all their energy, and the homework that was being assigned even in the first week was keeping them on their toes. Lily was glad to have the weekend to catch up on some sleep, and she was really looking forward to her Saturday tea with Professor Dixie.

Out of the group of first years Lily had been associating with, it was only her and Grace in the common room. They were sitting at a table, reading over each other's Herbology homework questions and eating some of the Chocolate Frogs Hugo had saved from the train. With a sigh, Lily set down her best friend's parchment and leaned back in her chair.

"These look good," she said, "but the third one about the root of the Horned Holly Bush is wrong. It doesn't prevent rashes, it cures them."

Grace slid her own paper back in front of her and scratched out the incorrect bit. She fixed the answer and smiled at Lily.

"Thanks. You really are a prodigy child, you know."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Come off it."

"You know you are! Come on, who else get top marks in _every _cla-," Grace's teasing was cut off when the sound of running footsteps on stairs caught their attention. Lily turned around, and saw Winnie and Odette barreling down from the girl's dormitory. They looked very stressed out.

"What's wrong?" Grace asked their friends.

Winnie clutched at her chest, "Lily! Oh, Lily, I'm so sorry!"

"For what?" Lily cried, jumping up. "What happened?"

Winnie looked ready to cry. "We were just upstairs, and I went to take Maybelle out of her basket to play with her, but…" Winnie trailed off, clamping her lips closed.

"What's wrong?" Grace asked. She just shook her head, unable to go on.

"Maybelle's gone," Odette whispered. Lily gasped, and shot up the steps into her dorm.

Mary was sitting on her bed reading a text book, clearly not aware of what was going on around her. Grace, Winnie and Odette came through the door seconds after Lily.

"Are you sure?" she asked the other girls. Odette nodded.

"Well, we'll just have to look for her," Lily cried, going down on her hands and knees and crawling around on the floor. She looked under beds, in trunks, behind the curtains, on the windowsills and every where else she could think of. The three girls helped her, looking weary.

After a thorough search of the dorm room, Lily headed back down to the common room and looked there. She called Maybelle's name frantically, asking around to everyone she saw. No one had seen a little grey kitten with blue eyes. Defeated, Lily went back up to the dormitory. Winnie, Odette, Mary and Grace were exactly where she left them. None of the girls made eye contact.

A brief silenced followed Lily's re-entry into the room. It was broken only by the ruffling of Mary's pages and Lily's heavy breathing. Finally, Grace piped up. "We'll find her, Lily. Don't worry!"

Lily sighed. "We can't tonight," she said, checking her watch. "It's past curfew."

"Already?" Lily nodded. "So, we'll look tomorrow! We have the whole day."

Lily nodded again and changed into her pajamas. The girls followed suit and all crawled into bed, not speaking. With tears in her eyes, Lily laid her head on the pillow, missing the comforting warmth of Maybelle's small body next to her.

*

At ten o'clock Saturday morning, Lily awoke with a start. She had dreamt about giant grey kittens with wide blue eyes terrorizing Slytherin students with hexes that flashed bright yellow. She rubbed her eyes, not knowing for a moment why the dream made her want to cry; but then the realization hit her. Maybelle was gone.

She jumped out of bed, quickly dressed and brushed her hair, then shook Grace awake violently.

"Come on, get up," she cried over Grace's sleepy moans, "We have to find Maybelle!"

"I'm getting up," Grace said tiredly, slipping out of bed. "You're lucky I like you so much, or you'd be searching on your own."

After Grace got dressed and pulled her hair back into a pony-tail, the girls crept quietly out of Gryffindor tower and into the empty hallways. The constant calls of, "Here, kitty, kitty," and "Maybelle," echoed down the halls and reverberated against the stone. The girls searched for nearly four straight hours, roaming the staircases and lurking in empty classrooms to no avail. It wasn't until they reached the Entrance Hall they recognized any life at all.

There was loud bang and then a crash, followed by a cackling laugh and shouts of anger. Lily raised her eyebrows and went to find out what the noise was.

"You stupid prat," called a boy's voice. Rounding the corner, she saw that it was the person she least wanted to see…Reynard Sly!

High above Reynard's head, a figure that was not quite ghost or person floated with a maniacal grin on his face. Grace and Lily both looked confused, but Reynard looked furious.

Peeves, the Poltergeist of the school, gave the same cackling laugh and grinned toothily at Reynard. "Ickle firstie lost his temper? Poooooor firstie!"

"Peeves, that wasn't funny!" Reynard bellowed, rubbing his shoulder. Lily looked over to see the head from a suit of armor lying by his feet. She snickered. "What, you think it's hilarious, Potter?" he spat at her.

"Not at all," Lily said, trying to keep a straight face.

"It's rude to lie," Peeves said boldly and floated off down the hall. There was a moment of silence, but the sizzling glares passing between Lily and Reynard were almost audible.

"What are you doing out so early?" Reynard asked them, crossing his arms defensively over his chest. Lily's hand instinctively went to the pocket of her robes were her wand was tucked away, but she did not draw it.

"We're looking for my cat," Lily told him. He sneered, and Lily flinched nervously.

"What's your cat's name?" he asked, flicking his wavy hair out of his eyes.

"Maybelle," Grace told him. "She's grey with big blue eyes and a white belly and paws. Have you seen her?"

Reynard smirked, his stony eyes glinting mischievously. "Yeah," he drawled, "I've seen her, all right. Did you know, when your cat is in pain," he added, eyes flicking over Lily's nervous face, "she makes a noise like two birds fighting?"

"What do you mean? How do you know that?" Lily inquired angrily, stepping forward, hand still resting on her wand in her pocket.

"I found her," he said with a disgusting, twisted smile. "She served as the perfect test dummy for the hexes my mates and I learned from th…"

He was cut off by Grace yelling, "_Stupefy_!" at the same time Lily yelled, "_Immobilius_!" Grace's spell hit first, causing Reynard to fall backwards, unconscious, and Lily's followed, freezing him, mid-fall. The girls exchanged a glance, and tears welled up in Lily's eyes. Not only was her kitten being tortured by the Slytherin gang, but if they were caught now, using magic against a fellow student in between classes, they would surely be expelled. They took off running down the hall, stowing their wands away. It wasn't until they reached the Charms corridor on the fourth floor that the girls stopped to take a breath.

Lily leaned against the cool stone wall, panting like a dog. Her damp red hair was plastered to her forehead, and she brushed it away impatiently. Grace took a spot beside her, also breathing heavily. She checked her watch.

"Lily," she said slowly, "don't you have tea with Professor Dixie today at two?"

"Yeah," Lily said, closing her eyes and sliding down the wall into a sitting position. "What time is it now?"

"Two ten," Grace stated. Lily jumped to her feet and gawked at her friend.

"I'm late!"

The two girls ran back the hall, down two flights of stairs and into the Transfiguration corridor. Lily skidded to a halt outside the professor's office door, and Grace collided with her back. She staggered slightly, got her balance back and knocked tentatively on the door.

Professor Dixie answered the door within a moment, dressed in a plain blue Muggle sun dress that fitted her quite nicely, and looking faintly nervous about something. When she saw Lily and Grace standing outside her door, still gasping for breath, a look of relief washed over her pretty face. She smiled warmly at the two girls and gestured them inside.

"Take a seat," she said welcomingly, pointing to a soft pink sofa. The girls obliged. "I was so worried that you weren't going to come," she informed, sitting across from them in a matching pink chair. Lily gulped another breath and looked around the room. It was pleasant and sunny, but not overwhelmingly so. There were feminine touches of pastels around the room, posters of mountains with green fields and happily clouded skies, yellow and pink curtains hung over the windows and every book one could imagine piled high in the shelves along the walls.

"Why were you worried, Professor?" Lily asked, turning back to her teacher. The older woman was sitting with her legs tucked under her in the chair, a line of concern creased between her perfect brows. She sighed.

"Have some tea, girls," she said, pulling her wand out of her dress pocket and giving it a wave. A tea pot, cups, sugar and milk, and a plate of cookies appeared on the little coffee table between them. Professor Dixie poured up three cups, handing one each to Grace and Lily, who added their sugar and milk. Lily brought it to her mouth and sipped; it was delicious.

"There was a bit of an incident in the Entrance Hall," she told them. Grace gasped loudly, and tried, to no avail, to cover it up in a coughing spurt. Lily nearly choked on her tea, and spit it out all over her knees. Professor Dixie raised her eyebrows and _scourgified_ Lily's robes.

Lily and Grace exchanged a look. "What kind of incident, Professor?" Grace asked, feigning innocence. Their teacher watched them suspiciously, but continued on.

"Apparently," she began, pausing to sip her tea, "someone attacked one of the boys from Slytherin. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you, girls?"

Grace shook her head no, but Lily figured the truth would do them more good than lies. "Yes, Professor," she answered, not meeting her eyes.

Professor Dixie looked slightly upset. "You do? Would you be so kind to tell me what you know?"

Grace and Lily opened their mouths to speak at the same time.

"Reynard took my kitten and said that he had practiced hexes on her, so we lost our temper and accidentally cast a few spells. Really, we didn't mean to do it, but he was being so cruel and told us he hurt Maybelle," came Lily's hurried reply.

"That slimy git from Slytherin grabbed Lily's cat and was torturing her, so we gave him a taste of his own medicine! He got what he deserved! He shouldn't be picking on little animals like that, the twisted ghoul," Grace said viciously. Professor Dixie looked between them, slightly flustered.

"One at a time, please. Lily," she indicated her with a nod of her head, "you go first."

Lily took a deep breath, still not looking directly at her professor, and said again, "Reynard took my kitten and said that he had practiced hexes on her, so we lost our temper and accidentally cast a few spells. We didn't mean to do it, Professor, it wasn't planned or anything! But he was being so cruel, and told us he hurt Maybelle." Her voice broke at the end and she felt tears welling up in her eyes again. She looked at her feet and wiped them away with the back of her hand.

Professor Dixie sighed and set her tea down. "Well, Miss Everheart, I don't really know if I want to hear your side of the story," she said with a hint of laughter in her voice. "It's just awful that the boy could torture your kitten like that, but you're still responsible for your actions, and you'll have to be punished."

Lily looked at Grace, whose mouth had fallen open. She finally met her Professor's clear blue eyes with her watery brown ones. Her lip quivered and her chest was heavy; she felt on the verge of sobbing. Dixie gave her a sympathetic look and said, "Five points from Gryffindor." Lily exhaled quickly; that wasn't as bad as she thought.

"Now, to sort out the problem of your kitten," Professor Dixie said. "There's no way I'm letting you two sort this out yourselves. That clearly doesn't work," she smirked. She pushed the plate of cookies towards Lily, and she took one gratefully. She just realized that she hadn't had any breakfast. "I'll talk to Professor Macintyre about it, and I'll see to it that anyone who had a part in hurting her is punished properly." She nodded in an affirming manner, and Lily smiled.

"Finish your tea," she said, and the girls drank the last bit of the cooling amber liquid in one go. "And now, we can go talk to the Slytherin Head of House. Come along."

Professor Dixie cleared the table with a wide sweep of her wand and went out into the hall. The girls followed her, and she closed and locked the door behind them. As they walked, Lily realized she didn't have a clue where the Slytherin common room was. They went down two flights of stairs into the Potions dungeon, and walked down a steep ramp into a dingy hallway. The small, high windows let in an eerie greenish light. Lily gasped quietly with realization; they were under the lake!

She walked a little closer to her Professor, and Grace did the same on the older woman's other side. She put a reassuring hand on Lily's shoulder and held her close to her as she walked. Lily shuddered; it was cold.

The little party walked at a quick pace, rounding a corner and coming to a dead end. Lily furrowed her eyebrows as the professor walked up to the plain stone wall and tapped it with her wand. A door popped into place and she knocked.

"Come in," said an American accented voice.

"It's okay, girls," Professor Dixie said, stepping into Professor Macintyre's office. They followed her and stood against the wall.

This office was nothing like Professor Dixie's. It was cold and dark, slightly gothic looking, with green and silver tapestries hanging on the wall. A woman with shockingly white hair was sitting behind a heavy wooden desk. She looked up at them, and Lily was surprised to see that she had a rather good-looking face. Her eyes were startlingly blue-grey, and although she was lined with age, it was easy to tell she had been a beauty when she was younger.

"Can I help you?" asked Professor Macintyre briskly. "Julie, is there something wrong?" _Julie?_ _That suits her so well, _thought Lily. She smiled weakly at Grace, who looked frightened by the Potions master. Even after being in Professor Macintyre's class twice, they were still not used to her intimidating manner.

"Actually, Eleanor, there is," said Professor Dixie smoothly. She sat down in the chair across from Macintyre's desk. "One, or more, of your students have been causing a bit more than their regular amount of mischief and havoc around here."

"Oh?"

"Oh indeed. Reynard Sly, one of your first years, has stolen Miss Potter's cat, and I've just been informed that he has been practicing hexes on the poor thing," she said with a glance at Lily. The tears behind her eyes were coming forward again, and this time, she couldn't stop them from falling. She grabbed Grace's hand, who gave her a reassuring squeeze.

"Is that so? Are you sure?" The professor's latter question was directed at Lily. She opened her mouth to assure her, but found she had no voice; she merely squeaked and nodded. The older woman sighed and stood up from her desk. "Well, I'll go attend to that. Wait here, if you please," and she was gone.

Professor Dixie motioned for the two girls to sit down. They took the other two chairs in front of the desk, and Lily didn't let go of her friend's hand. She let the tear drops fall into her lap; she was so worried for Maybelle. What if they had seriously hurt her, or disfigured her, or…She didn't want to think about it. Dixie laid a comforting hand on Lily's, which was lying flat on the arm of the chair. No one spoke.

There was a loud yell and the banging of a heavy door, followed by a scuffling sound. In moments, Professor Macintyre re-entered her office, holding Reynard Sly by the ear. He was glowering up at her, clearly embarrassed and angry at this display of discipline. She thrust him forcefully into the room and stood over him, her arms making perfect right angles with her hips. He cowered slightly, but did not stop glaring.

"Explain," she commanded. He shifted his glare from Macintyre to Dixie, Grace, and then Lily, fixing her with a stare that could cut through a stone wall. He took a deep breath and folded his arms definitely across his chest.

"I took the cat, alright? It's a stupid animal, anyway, who cares? I practiced a few hexes on it, and I didn't kill it or anything, so no harm, no foul, right?" The end of his sentence was pleading.

"Actually, Mr Sly, you've caused quite a bit of harm. Poor Miss Potter is absolutely distraught," growled Macintyre. "To show you just what happens to people who delight in causing others pain, I'll see you in detention every Saturday evening for the rest of the year. Don't argue, just go retrieve the cat and get out of my sight."

Reynard scurried from the room and returned moments later with Maybelle clasped in his arms. When the little kitten set eyes on Lily, she mewled and struggled to be free of her captor's arms. Reynard dumped her on Lily's lap and ran from his Head's office.

"Thank you, Professors," Lily said genuinely, cuddling the frightened cat to her chest. Grace reached over and patted Maybelle's soft grey head, smiling at Lily.

"No problem, dear," said Professor Macintyre. "Now, if you'll kindly excuse me, I have a letter to write to Mr Sly's parents. Good day."

Understanding themselves dismissed, Professor Dixie, Grace and Lily hurried from the room and closed the office door behind them. It blended back into the wall deceptively; if they hadn't just come from there, they wouldn't have believed there was an office behind them. They were silent all the way back to Professor Dixie's office, Lily cradling Maybelle in her arms tenderly and relishing in the fact that her tears had finally stopped.

Dixie smiled at them, and held her arms out for the kitten. "May I?"

"Of course," Lily replied, passing the small grey body to her. The professor stroked the kitten gently, and Maybelle purred, rubbing up against her face. Professor Dixie laughed and handed the kitten back to Lily. Then, she drew her wand with a flourish.

"Let me give her something," she said. She twisted her wand in little circles, and a soft, satiny pink ribbon appeared in thin air. She tied it around the kitten's neck in a big bow and petted her head one more time. "There. Aren't you just precious?"

"Thank you so much," Lily exclaimed. "And not just for the ribbon, Professor; I never, never, never would have gotten her back without your help!" Lily beamed and hugged her around the waist, pressing Maybelle between them. She mewled in protest, and they all laughed. Professor Dixie smoothed Lily's hair and smiled.

"It was no problem at all, dear," she said honestly and opened her office door. "We'll have to have a proper tea next weekend. Would you like that?"

"Yes, please!" Lily said with an excited nod. Lily glanced at her friend; Grace looked rather downcast again. "And Grace, as well?"

"Absolutely," Professor Dixie smiled. "Oh, and I nearly forgot! Twenty points to Gryffindor! It takes a lot to fight your own battles, but even more to let someone fight them for you." She stepped into her office. "Good afternoon, girls." The door closed behind them, and Lily and Grace grinned. She was truly the greatest Professor they had ever had!

*

The rest of the afternoon was spent coaxing Maybelle into eating something. Lily's stomach rumbled as the kitten crunched up kibble from her small white dish; the only thing both her and Grace had eaten all day was a cookie each during tea. They were sprawled on the floor of their dorm room with Odette; Mary and Winnie were no where to be found.

Odette stroked Maybelle's pretty head and sighed. Lily watched her interestedly. She had come around quite nicely since their first night together; she was talking more and more, and Lily was pleased to see that she had even made progress with her school work, due to Lily's tutoring. Odette didn't have a problem understanding things, or writing them down on paper, but she lacked confidence with her spellwork. Lily's help was rubbing off in her social life, too, and Grace was more accepting of their new friend now that she could carry a conversation.

"Boy, am I hungry!" Grace exclaimed, rolling over on her back. "Can't we just find a spell to conjure up something to eat?"

"No," giggled Odette. "You can't simply conjure food! You have to Summon it, or Transfigure it or something. It can't just appear out of thin air!"

Grace groaned. "I'm seriously contemplating stealing Maybelle's kibble," she said longingly. "At least I'll have something in my stomach!"

"I don't think I've been this hungry before," said Lily, clutching her growling stomach. "Wouldn't it be great if there _was_ a spell to make food?"

"Yeah," Grace said wistfully. "That'd be amazing."

"Well, dinner's in – What, two hours?" Odette told them, checking her watch. "Will you survive 'til then?"

Grace moaned, but Lily laughed, "I'm sure we will."

"Speak for yourself," Grace grumbled and covered her face with her hands. Lily laughed and got to her feet. She grabbed the letter she had received from her parents Friday morning, a piece of parchment and a quill. She sat to the round table against the wall and stared at it, wondering about a reply.

'_Dear Lily,_

_Congratulations on making it through your first week at Hogwarts! I know it's probably been tough to adjust, but I'm sure you're doing fine. We miss you terribly at home; things aren't the same without you and your brothers around. _

_I hope Maybelle's providing you good company. She's such a precious little cat; I bet she's growing like a weed! _

_So, tell me about your new friends, your subjects, your teachers! I want to hear all about it!_

_Write back soon._

_Love,_

_Mum._

_p.s. Dad, Grandma and Granddad Weasley say hi. Be sure you write to your grandparents as well!'_

Lily set her quill to parchment and began to write. She told her mother all about Grace, how she was the best friend Lily had ever made, and how much alike they were; about Odette, how she was finally starting to come out of her shell and becoming quite a good friend, as well; about Mary and Winnie, how different they were, how sweet Winifred was and how insufferable Mary could be – well, usually was; about Professor Dixie, how they had tea and how lovely she was; and finally, about how much she loved Hogwarts and felt at home there. She was having a great time, her studies were going fantastic, and even though she loved it at school, she couldn't wait to get home for Christmas.

She signed the letter with a flourish and many "x's" and "o's", then folded it up and stuck it in an envelope. She addressed it to her parents and sealed it, then turned to her friends, who were still lying on the floor by Maybelle.

"I've got to bring this up to the Owlery. Want to come?"

Grace and Odette nodded and got to their feet.

"Nothing else to do, really," Odette said. "It's rather quiet without the others around."

"Yeah, it is," Lily agreed as they left the dorm room.

"Maybe, while we're out, can we find something to eat?" Grace inquired, rubbing her stomach. The other girls laughed.

Lily linked arms with Odette and Grace and they strolled down the stairs and into the quiet common room.

"Maybe," she replied.


	6. A Plan of Attack or Two

**Learning How to Shine**

Monday came much too quickly for Lily. It seemed like seconds to her, and Sunday was over. She was back to school, in lessons and staying up all hours of the night doing homework. No matter how hard she tried to stay on top of it, it seemed like too much for her to handle. She figured it was because she spent half of her time helping her friends that it seemed like she was doing extra work.

She didn't mind, however. Lily enjoyed being able to help people learn things they didn't understand, and knew that they all appreciated it, even Mary. All of their grades were improving, and that was thanks enough for her.

Lily's favourite lesson was Transfiguration by a long shot. She found it easy to concentrate and performed the spells well. Second to that was Charms, and then Potions. Defense Against the Dark Arts was fun, and Herbology was enjoyable only because she got to talk to her friends, and she really liked Professor Longbottom. Lily couldn't help but wish she could take more subjects, even if she was only just keeping up with the ones she had now.

Lily had this very thought in her head as she and the other first year girls headed down to the Great Hall. She had been up late the night before with Grace, discussing the options of third year courses. When they had finally fallen asleep, Lily had dreamt about crystal balls and endless sheets of parchment that night. She had been trying to weight both out on a set of rickety brass scales that kept breaking into pieces when she stacked things on them. It had been a strangely unsettling dream.

When the post came with breakfast, Lily was surprised when a tawny screech owl landed in her plate of eggs and toast. The letter was stamped with the Hogwarts crest, and addressed in green ink that was very familiar to her. She lifted the back of the envelope and took the letter out, and the owl took off again, sending bits of breakfast everywhere.

"Who's that from?" asked Hugo, peering interestedly across the table at her.

"Professor McGonagall," Lily said slowly, confused as to why her Headmistress would be sending her post. She glanced up at the Staff table; McGonagall was watching her over her square spectacles with a small smile playing around her thin mouth. Lily smiled uneasily back and read the letter.

"What's it say?" Grace asked, brushing eggs off her robes that the owl had dropped there.

"It says, 'I would be pleased if you would join me for a short meeting in my office tonight, Monday, at six thirty.' Why would McGonagall want to talk to me?" Lily wondered aloud.

"Maybe it's about your cat," Grace offered. Lily shook her head.

"No, I don't think so," she said. "Professor Dixie dealt with that. This is something different!"

"Are you in trouble?" Mary asked, reading the letter over Lily's shoulder. She yanked it out of the way of Mary's prying eyes and tucked it inside her school bag. Mary huffed and returned to eating her bacon.

"Of course not," Winnie giggled. "Lily's a total Mary Sue! She never gets in trouble."

Lily glared playfully at Winnie. "I'm not a Mary Sue! I'm a Lily Luna!"

Winnie rolled her eyes and smiled. Lily looked up to a tap on her shoulder. A handsome boy with sparkling green eyes and shocking black hair was standing over her with a note clasped in his hand. Lily felt her breath catch in her chest as he smiled at her with startling white teeth.

"Lily Potter?" he inquired.

"Y-yes," Lily stammered, turning all the way around in her seat to face him.

"Who're you?" demanded Mary, also facing the boy.

"I'm Jacob Eden, Gryffindor fifth year," he said, not discouraged by Mary's abrupt rudeness. "Lily, Professor Dixie asked me to give this to you." He handed her the note that was tied with the same pink satin ribbon Dixie had given Maybelle. She smiled her thanks, and he nodded and walked away.

"Oh, my gosh," Winnie exclaimed. "He's gorgeous!"

"I know," Lily bubbled, still grinning. She unrolled the note, saving the ribbon to tie in her hair, and read the flowing, wide script.

'_Lily,_

_About tea this coming weekend – how does Sunday at noon sound? Bring Grace along, as well. Just let me know in Transfiguration if you'd like to come or not._

_Take care,_

_Professor Dixie.'_

Lily grinned even wider, and shoved the note under Grace's nose. They exchanged superior glances, but kept quiet.

"My, my," Mary said haughtily. "Aren't we popular?"

"They're just notes from teachers," Odette defended.

"Little Miss Goodie-Two-Shoes," Mary said with a roll of her eyes. She gathered her things and left, and the bell rang shortly after her departure.

"What do we have?" Hugo asked, scrambling to shove the last of his bacon into his mouth.

"Herbology with the Hufflepuffs," Odette told him, and they all left the Great Hall together, laughing about Lily's sudden popularity with the teachers. But Lily couldn't get Mary's words out of her head. She was _not _a Goodie-Two-Shoes. Two meetings with teachers; that was nothing! She'd write her mother after and ask her opinion. And she still had the mystery of McGonagall's sudden desire to talk with her swirling about in her thoughts. It was going to be an anxious day.

*

Professor Longbottom gave Lily a cheerful wave as she entered the green house for Herbology. She and the other first year girls settled near the front of the glass building against the long tables that were draped with plants. Hugo scurried off to talk with some boys from Hufflepuff.

"We're just continuing taking notes on our Rabbit Head Leaves," Professor Longbottom announced to the class at large. "Note it's height and the distinct colour change in the fur as winter begins to approach, and see how the stalk is beginning to thicken? Write that down on your charts and hand them back up when you're finished."

Lily turned to Grace as Professor Longbottom started to make his rounds about the green house, pointing interesting things out to the students. Grace was idly taking notes about the unusual half-rabbit, half-shrub they were studying. Lily sighed loudly, trying to get her attention. Grace did not look up. She sighed again.

"You want something?" she asked placidly, not glancing up from her chart.

"I just want to ask you something," Lily said shortly. She was in a rather bad temper after breakfast, and she wanted Grace to back her up on her thoughts.

"Huh?"

"Am I a Goodie-Two-Shoes?" Lily said, hating herself for sounding so desperate. Finally, Grace looked at her.

"Umm…" she trailed off, giving Lily a crooked smile.

"Grace!" Lily exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air and nearly knocking over their potted Rabbit.

"Sorry!" said Grace, righting the pot. "I can't lie to you! You're just so…sweet!"

"That doesn't mean I'm a suck up, though," Lily reasoned, not so sure of herself.

"No," her friend said slowly, measuring the height of the bush with a ruler and jotting down the numbers, "you're just a…A good girl."

Lily huffed. "Fine. Do you think what Mary and Winnie said is true, though?"

"No," Grace said again. "Well, yes, kind of!" Noting Lily's disappointed glare, she hurriedly corrected herself, "I mean, not in a bad way! You just stay out of trouble, and do well in school, and you're a good friend and really nice to everyone."

"So what's wrong with that?" Lily cried, exasperated.

"Nothing! Just, ignore them, okay?"

Lily sighed heavily and added a few observations about the Rabbit's changing colour to Grace's notes and laid it on the pile of charts next to her. "Alright."

The rest of the class stretched out for ever. Lily tried to take Grace's advice and forget about what the other girls had said; it wasn't like being a Goodie-Two-Shoes was bad. It was just that she felt like she didn't fit in with the others, that she was too sweet and kind. She really couldn't wait to write to her mother about it and get a response. But still, even that made her anxious. Her mother would tell her to stop being so dramatic and not to take things so much to heart. She had always been soft like that. Criticism was Lily's weak point.

It wasn't criticism that her friends were giving her, though. Telling her that she should hold her quill on a forty-five degree angle to get neater script was criticism; telling her that she was too nice wasn't. Lily felt her eyes narrow as she marched out of the Greenhouse with Grace at her side. They headed up the sloping lawn to the castle for Defense Against the Dark Arts and Lily hugged herself, turning her head down at the chilly late autumn wind. It wouldn't be long and they would have their first snow fall, and then finally, Christmas.

Lily had always loved Christmas; it was a happy, family-oriented time in the Potter house. She anticipated the day on which she, her mother, father and brothers would head to the Burrow to have Christmas dinner with the entire Weasley crew. Lily felt she never got to see enough of her family; perhaps it was because there was so many of them. Now that she was at school, she saw more of the red-headed clan, but even her brothers were too wrapped up in their own lives to spend much time with her. She was counting down the days until she'd take the train home.

During Defense Against the Dark Arts, when everyone else was reading through chapter three in their books, Lily wrote a letter to her mother, telling her about the comments her friends had made. She made a promise to her mother, but more so to herself, that she was going to prove them wrong. As soon as she wrote the words, she regretted them, but she wrote quickly in brackets, "(don't worry, Mum, I'll try to stay out of trouble)," hoping her mother would laugh off the very serious comment. She asked to be excused for the bathroom and brought the letter to the Owlery, sending it off with James' owl, Midas. She ran the way back to her classroom, hoping she'd get there before the bell.

Lily's attention was divided for the rest of the day; some of the time, she would think about the upcoming holidays and feel instant excitement, while others she'd let her mind wander across the words of her friends from earlier that day, and she'd get a sudden surge of anger. To say the least, Lily wasn't at all focused in her classes. She took her notes aimlessly without really reading what they said, and her eyes were glazed over as she stared past her teachers as they lectured.

Even in Transfiguration, their last class of the day, Lily sat with her chin in her hand, not noticing that her crossed legs had fallen asleep until she stood up and her knees gave way. She brushed off all offers of help and got to her feet, a little shaky. Hugo was still busting with laughter as they headed up to Gryffindor tower to drop of their things before dinner. Not even Grace could hold back her smirk.

"What _are _you grinning at?" Lily snapped, throwing her books and bag down and hurrying back to the Great Hall.

"Nothing," Grace said sheepishly. "It's just, you haven't been yourself at all today, and even though you're clearly cross, you have to admit, it was funny when you fell!"

Lily did not smile. "Not really."

"You didn't hurt yourself, did you?" Grace asked, sitting down between Lily and Winnie at the table and loading her plate with whatever she could reach.

"No," Lily said, taking a small helping of roast chicken and picking at it with her fork.

"Good."

Lily ate in silence, trying not to glare at her friends, who were chatting merrily around her. She glanced around, towards the Slytherin table, and her eyes were immediately drawn to Reynard. He was whispering with his two bulky friends and the sour blonde who was always attached to his arm. Their heads were bent, and they were secluded from the rest of their House, talking only to themselves and not eating much. Lily watched them suspiciously for a while, until Rey glanced up and caught her eye. She shifted her attention quickly back to her own table and hissed at her friends.

"Guys," she said under her breath, and they all looked at her. "I think those Slytherins are up to something."

Mary raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

Lily narrowed her eyes and bit back her sarcastic retort. "Because, I just saw them whispering and being all secretive!"

"Kind of like we're doing right now?" Hugo ventured.

Lily ignored that. "They look really suspicious!"

Odette glanced over the top of Lily's head towards the Slytherins. She furrowed her eyebrows and watched them nonchalantly for a moment.

"I think you're right, Lily. Reynard's showing them something now; a piece of paper, I think, and they all look really excited!"

That information prompted excited outbursts from the group. Lily hushed them, glanced over her shoulder, and then said, "I think we should find out what they're up to!"

Everyone looked puzzled. This was Lily; the rule-abiding, mind-your-own-business, keep-your-head-down good girl. She wasn't one to sneak around and get into things that had nothing to do with her. But this was exactly what Lily wanted to do. She was set on showing her friends that she could be someone other than whom they thought she was, even if it wasn't who she _really _was.

"What do you mean? Go over and ask or something?" Winnie scratched her head thoughtfully.

"No!" Lily burst, trying to keep her voice down. "I think we should try and steal that paper!"

Grace gasped. "Lily, you're not talking about breaking into the Slytherin common room?"

Lily grinned, though her stomach was uneasy. "Yep!"

"No, we'll get in so much trouble!" Odette practically squealed. Everyone shushed her.

"Who cares?" Lily said, sounding much braver than she thought. The promise she had made herself earlier, to prove to her friends that she wasn't a good girl all the time, was still fresh in her mind, and the chance to show them exactly that had just presented itself.

"Well, okay," Grace said, sounding weary, "but you'll have to think of a pretty good plan!"

Lily looked around at her friends. "Who else is in?"

Odette nodded, looking as though she regretted it very much; Winnie opened her mouth to say something, but closed it and nodded as well; Hugo grinned and told her he couldn't wait to kick some Slytherin tail; and Mary simply crossed her arms and looked away, nose in the air.

"Definitely not!" she said fiercely. "I'm not being chucked in detention because you have some sick desire to prove yourself a bad girl. Have fun getting your excursion marked on your permanent record! I shan't have a part in it."

Lily merely shrugged. "No loss there!" Mary huffed and gathered her things, leaving the table without them, as she often did.

"I'm off to write that essay for Potions – it's going to take forever. Don't come crying to me when you can't pass it in on time because you spent the weekend cleaning the shields in the trophy room!" she exclaimed with a flick of her hair, and was gone.

Grace checked her watch. "Lily," she said slowly, "don't you have a meeting with Professor McGonagall at six thirty?"

"Okay, two things," Lily said, sipping a goblet of water and setting it back down. "One; I just had déjà vu, and two; yes. Why?"

"Because it's six thirty now, and she's not at the staff table." Lily looked up; Grace was right. She jumped from the bench, completely forgetting her plan of Slytherin revenge, and ran from the hall without another word.

A portrait of a humble-looking wizard in orange robes scoffed as she sprinted up the marble staircase. "Careful you don't lose your claim at first place!" he called. She paid him no mind and hurried down the corridor, coming to the stone gargoyle that marked the Headmistress' office. If it wasn't for the fact that they had been shown the office on their first evening by a kind group of seventh years that gave them a tour of the school, Lily would have been even later than she already was.

She stared at the gargoyle, breathless, wondering how, exactly, she was supposed to get _in_. She cleared her throat. "Um, excuse me?" she asked timidly. The stone creature sprang to life and flapped it's bat-like wings.

"Yes?" it croaked, gazing up at her with beady eyes.

"I need to get in, er, to see Professor McGonagall. Please," she added hastily, cowering from the reproachful look it gave her.

"May I ask why?" it wheezed politely, though the tone was far from nice.

"She sent me a note," Lily said, rummaging through her pockets and pulling out the carefully folded letter. She showed the gargoyle the green ink it was addressed in, and the signature at the bottom.

"Well, I'd let you in, but you need a password. If the Headmistress didn't give it to you…"

"Oh!" Lily exclaimed quietly, scanning the letter and cutting off her stone heckler. "Here it is; _Nightingale_!" The gargoyle grumbled incoherently and jumped out of the way, sending a spiral staircase into view. Lily stood still for a moment, watching transfixed as it rotated.

"Well, go on up then, Miss Persistent," the gargoyle barked. She jumped, and then smirked.

"Potter," she corrected cheekily, and flew up the steps two at a time. When she reached the large wooden door at the top, she was out of breath again. She took the golden phoenix door knocker in her hand to announce her presence, but before she had a chance to let it go, the door opened. She peered inside to see a very cross-looking Professor McGonagall sitting behind her desk.

"Come in, Miss Potter," she said, and like the gargoyle, her polite words were somewhat diminished by her less than friendly tone. Lily entered, staring at her shoes, and walked smack into a small table. It teetered, and she caught it before it fell. "Kindly watch where you're walking."

"Yes, Professor," she said quietly. "Sorry I'm late, I…"

"No need to apologize," McGonagall cut across her quickly. "My fault entirely; I set our meeting far too early. I take it you were still eating?"

Lily nodded, but her grumbling stomach contradicted her. "Well, yes, but I didn't really eat much."

"Sit down, Miss Potter," Professor McGonagall instructed, and conjured a plate of chicken sandwiches with a casual wave of her wand. "Eat, if you like."

Lily sat down at the chair across from McGonagall's desk and took a sandwich gratefully. She ate slowly, feeling the Professor's scrutinizing eyes on her all the while, but not looking up. She had no idea why, but the woman intimidated her. No, make that _scared_ her.

As if reading her mind, Professor McGonagall said, "No need to be nervous. You're not in trouble. It's not like you're up to anything, anyway."

Lily let a relieved sigh escape her; she knew she couldn't have been in trouble, but that didn't prevent her from being wary about this visit. However, it was almost as if the Headmistress knew she _was_ up to something. She swallowed the last bite of her sandwich and looked up.

"I've been speaking with Professor Dixie," McGonagall informed her, folding her hands on the desk and watching Lily over her square spectacles. "She's told me that you've been doing quite well in Transfiguration, among others." Lily nodded. "I was very pleased to hear that, Miss Potter. No offense to your father, but while he was here, he spent too much causing trouble and not enough time focusing on his studies. Not saying he didn't do well; quite the contrary, and of course, most of his troublemaking was for a good cause," Professor McGonagall's eyes twinkled, and Lily thought she saw her smile.

"Anyway," she continued on, "all of your professors are quite pleased with your progress as of late. And, if I'm not mistaken, you've been tutoring a few of your friends?" Again, Lily nodded. "Very well. That brings us to the reason I've called you here. You're excelling in most, if not all, of your subjects, you're top of the class in Transfiguration –" again, a twinkle in McGonagall's eyes – was it pride? "- and Charms. I've been thinking that perhaps we should start a peer study group.

"In my mind, it would be a great way for students of all grades and Houses to come together and help each other. Help form bonds, House unity," the Professor scoffed slightly. "Professor Dixie thinks it's about time the students get together. Not that it has ever worked before, but…" she trailed off, and Lily felt it was a good opportunity to ask the question burning on her mind.

"What's my part in this, Professor?"

"I want you to be a part of it, of course," Professor McGonagall said shortly, as if she was seriously doubting Lily's brains if she couldn't follow along. Lily felt a hot flush rise in her face; the compliments that the Headmistress had been giving her were finally processed and hit her full force. She looked into her lap, trying to control a proud smile.

"So?"

"So what?" Lily asked, and then quickly added, "Ma'am."

Professor McGonagall smirked. "So will you join our little group?"

Lily positively beamed. "Of course, Professor!"

McGonagall clapped her hands together. "Thank you very much, Miss Potter. I'll be sure to let you know more details as soon as they're sorted out."

Understanding herself to be dismissed, Lily thanked McGonagall again, and then hurried from the room, ready to burst with excitement. All of the day's previous altercations were forgotten as she swelled with pride. She tried to hold in the urge to spew the contents of her meeting with the Headmistress on her friends as she entered the common room. They were all settled around a table, working vigorously on various assignments and essays. All heads snapped up, however, when Lily burst through the portrait hole. She took a few deep breaths and tried to calm herself down before grabbing a seat.

"What are you working on?" Lily asked no one in particular, trying to suppress the smile on her face.

"Potions," they chorused. Looking around the table, Lily noticed that Mary was the only one missing.

"She was right," grumbled Hugo, scratching out a large section of his essay furiously, tearing a hole right through the parchment. He moaned and looked ready to cry as he leafed through his things for more.

"Who was right?" asked Lily.

"Mary," Winnie told her. "She said at dinner that this essay would take all night." Winnie crossed out a sentence on her own essay and bit down on the feathery end of her quill.

"I have it done," Lily told him. Grace gawked at her.

"Seriously? Can I see?"

"Sure," Lily said cheerily and went up to the dorm room to get it. When she sat back down, everyone was eyeing her. "You can all see it," she told them with a laugh.

"Someone was slipped a Smiling Solution at dinner," Odette said with a smirk. "What are you so cheery about?"

"Nothing!" Lily said, her cheeks starting to hurt from the grin on her face.

"Don't lie," Grace said, starting a new paragraph. "How was your meeting with McGonagall?"

"Good," Lily said evasively, trying to play it off.

"Don't make us beg, Lily," Winnie said, "What'd she want?"

"Oh, something about starting a tutoring group," she told them with a wave of her hand.

"That's cool," Hugo said, sounding very much as if he wasn't paying attention to them. Lily giggled.

"Not as cool as the plan we're going to make for the Slytherins!" Lily exclaimed, suddenly remembering their conversation at dinner and pulling a piece of blank parchment towards her.

"You're not still going on about that, are you?" Grace asked exasperatedly.

"You didn't think I was kidding, did you?" she said.

"Well, yeah, I did." Grace gave Lily a crooked smile. "You don't really have to do it, Lily."

"I do! You promised you'd help me!" Lily exclaimed. "You guys will never let me live it down if I don't; especially Mary," she added darkly.

"Come on," Winnie said. "We're not that bad!"

Lily raised a flame-colored eyebrow. "No?"

"Okay, we are, usually. But we won't be this time!" Winnie defended. "Lily, please!"

"I don't want to get in trouble," Odette pleaded. "My Mum'll kill me if I get an owl sent home!"

"Don't chicken out on me," Lily begged. "I have a plan! We won't get caught, I promise."

Lily quickly drew a diagram of the Potions corridor and the entrance to the Slytherin common room. She drew dots representing people and where they would stand. Then, she labeled Professor Macintyre's hidden office door, making sure her friends knew that it was there, only invisible. On the back of the sheet, she wrote out their names and the positions they'd take as look-out, distraction, and who'd actually go in the room. She explained her plan to them, making it up as she went along, but feeling pretty confident it would work. They all looked hesitant, but slightly reassured when she finished.

"Why am I the lookout?" Hugo asked, sounding disappointed.

"Because you're the clumsiest," Lily informed him with a smile.

"And why am I the distraction?" Odette questioned, eyebrows raised.

"Because you're the most innocent and believable," Grace told her. "Lily'd do it, I'd say, except she needs to sneak in to get the paper Reynard had."

"You got it, Grace," Lily told her friend with a nod.

"So, when are we carrying out this master plan?" Hugo asked.

"Tonight," Lily said, sounding much more confident then she felt.

"Okay, one question," Winnie said after reviewing Lily's diagram. "Ever master plan has a Plan B. What's ours?"

Lily thought for a moment, and then her face fell. Everyone shuddered as a slight cold chill swept over the room.

"Run," she said, sounding more serious then she had all night.

**A/N: So, sorry for the slight cliff-hanger there. I kind of like leaving you in suspense. There's not much action in my story, so a cliffy makes you comment and read more. :) So anyway, how'd you like it? Review please and thanks, it makes me sooo happy!**


	7. Rebelling and What Comes of It

**Learning How to Shine**

"Come on!"

"No!"

"You promised!"

"I've changed my mind!"

"You're supposed to be my friend!"

"I've changed my mind about that, too!"

"If you don't do this, I'll never forgive you!"

"I'll get over it!"

"I'll cry?"

"I'll turn my head!"

"Please?"

"No! Do you not understand what that means?"

"I've gone temporarily stupid."

"Are you sure that it's temporary?"

"Yes…Stop changing the subject! Please?"

"NO!"

Grace crossed her arms and glared at Lily. The banter had been streaming continuously for ten minutes in a furious whisper as Winnie, Hugo and Odette watched, heads whipping between the girls like they were watching a tennis match. They were situated at the top of the stairs that led them down to the dungeons. Lily had their plan of attack held tightly in her fist, and everyone was well rehearsed. Grace was the only one protesting.

"Come _on,_ Grace!" Lily exclaimed, pouting her lips pathetically. Grace turned her head, feigning indifference. "No one else is causing a fuss!"

"No one else actually has to go _into _the common room," she defended.

"We're not going to get caught!" Lily assured her, but she felt her stomach twist nervously.

Grace was silent for a minute. She turned her face back to Lily and studied her, then sighed heavily. "You're going to owe me, big time."

Lily squealed and wrapped her arms around her friend. Grace patted her back and pushed her away quickly, shushing her with a finger to her lips. The five Gryffindors snuck down the stairs, the echo that their shoes made as they descended sounding ten times louder than normal. Everything was darker than usual, and the lanterns that lit the hallway were casting an eerie glow on the walls. Their shadows stretched almost to the ceiling and they walked quickly in a straight line, turning one corner and coming to the entrance of the Slytherin common room within moments. Lily took a deep breath.

"Okay, Odette," she whispered. Odette nodded once and knocked on the heavy door with wooden snakes carved into it. An old man's face with a long beard appeared in the center. He spoke in a quiet yet commanding voice.

"What issssss your greatesssssst ambition?" he hissed in a snake-like manner. Odette shuddered.

"To…get inside the Slytherin common room?" she questioned, unsure of herself. Everyone watched with bated breath, expecting nothing to happen. However, the door opened and exposed the Slytherin common room, decked out in green and silver upholstery. The group peered inside; it was seemingly empty. Lily grinned at Odette, and waltzed into the room.

Grace and Odette followed her, while Winnie and Hugo took up look-out positions in the hallway and on the stairs. They had their wands, and Lily had taught them how to send sparks in a jet along the corridor if anything happened; red was for teachers, green was for Slytherins.

They took in the sight; the room was dark as there were hardly any lamps lit. There was no cozy fire blazing in the hearth, no comfortable chairs and study tables. Everything was cold and dignified, and over all, it wasn't a very welcoming room at all. Lily and Grace stood by the entrance while Odette tentatively crept over to the door marked "First Year Boys". She knocked briskly and it flew open.

"Gah!" exclaimed the boy who answered; Lily only knew him from seeing him around the school. He was rather short and thin, but his angry scowl was more intimidating than any amount of height and weight. "What are _you _doing in here?"

"I was sent to get you," Odette said quietly. "Professor McGonagall said that the first year boys had to go out on the grounds and collect…"

"What's all this?" asked an obnoxious voice from inside the dormitory room. Reynard burst forth and pushed his roommate out of the way. "Ick, Gryffindor. What do you want?"

"She says we've got to go out on the grounds for something," grunted the other boy.

"All of us?" Reynard whined. Odette nodded. He rolled his eyes and turned back to the room. "Come on, you lot. We've got to go do something outside. Stupid school, taking us away from important business," he grumbled as he marched past Odette with his friends behind him. Lily, Grace and Odette exchanged triumphant looks. As the common room door shut behind the Slytherins, Lily let out a quite whoop.

The three girls headed into the newly abandoned room and looked around. There, in plain sight, on the table in the middle, was the parchment the Slytherins had been huddled over that morning at breakfast. They hurried over and took a look at it.

Lily was utterly confused. The paper was covered in letters and numbers, neatly scripted on the page in careful hand, and the letters were all from the alphabet she knew as English, but they didn't form words. It appeared to be…

"Acronyms!" Odette exclaimed, taking the paper up in her hand. "They're writing in code for something."

"I wonder what it could mean," Grace wondered out loud, taking the thought right from Lily's head. "MBDF…Who knows!"

"Yeah, look at this one," Lily said, pointing to the second row of letters on the page. "PDLPC. This makes no sense!"

"Well, let's take it anyway and get out of here," Odette whispered, folding the paper up and stuffing it in her pocket. They moved to leave, but Lily remembered the last part of the plan.

"Wait!" she cried, grabbing the parchment out of Odette's robes. "I nearly forgot! They're going to wonder where this has gone, so I looked up a duplicating charm." She took her wand from her robes, tapped the paper, and said, "_Geminio!_" The paper duplicated itself and Lily laid the second copy on the table. She grinned excitedly and stepped out into the common room.

She stopped dead in her tracks, however, when she saw a very angry Professor Macintyre with Winnie and Hugo by the ear. The Slytherins were standing behind her, looking disgustingly excited. Standing in the middle of the five boys was Reynard, smirking in a self-righteous way.

"Thought you had us tricked, didn't you, Potter?" Reynard spat, stepping towards her. She instinctively backed up a few paces, nearly toppling Grace over. "Thought you could come in here and root through our things, though we'd never know! Well, we're not stupid – we realized something was up when we saw your guard in the hall."

Lily tried to convey her apologies through her facial expression, but her friends were deliberately avoiding her eyes. Her attention diverted when Professor Macintyre spoke.

"Potter," she barked. "I'm ashamed. I don't know who you think you are…" she trailed off briefly, "if you were in my house, you'd be out of here by the morning. But as you're not, I'll take the whole lot of you to Professor Dixie and she'll have her say. Come along," she spat, turning on her heel and finally releasing Winnie and Hugo. They both rubbed their ears and followed the Potions master to their Head of House's office, not looking at each other or talking. Lily was on the verge of tears.

Everything had been going so well; their excuse had worked, they'd found what they were looking for. But now, her friends were clearly furious with her, she'd be in detention for the rest of her life, if she was lucky, and she was going to have to see the look of disappointment in her favourite professor's eyes when she was dragged to her office in the middle of the night. Not to mention, an owl would be sent to her parents and they'd kill her as soon as she got home for Christmas. She, in short, was doomed.

Professor Dixie answered the door in a yellow dressing gown, looking as though she hadn't been to sleep yet. That was a relief; at least they hadn't had to wake her up. She took one look at the party at her door and sighed, not saying anything and moving aside so they could enter her office. Lily, Grace, Hugo, Winnie and Odette stood against the wall as Professor Dixie sat behind her desk and Professor Macintyre stood in the middle of the room with her hands on her hips.

"I take it," Professor Dixie said seriously, looking around at all the guilty faces, "that this is not a friendly get-together."

"Not in the least," Professor Macintyre growled. "Your lot of first years," she said, gesturing around, "thought it'd be funny to sneak into the Slytherin common room and rifle through the things of others. If it were up to me, I'd have them all expelled. But you seem to be a little more lenient with them, so I'll leave it to you."

Professor Dixie's jaw dropped open. She blinked rapidly, and then set her eyes on Lily. The girl couldn't control the tears that had started to flow, and as she began to cry, she heard the rest of her friends do the same - with the exception of Hugo, however. He simply stared at his shoes.

"Thank you very much, Professor Macintyre," Professor Dixie said. "If you could be so kind, please shut the door on your way out." The other professor nodded and did as she was asked, but not before glaring around at the crying children standing around the room.

"Well," Professor Dixie said with a sigh. "You might as well stop your crying and explain what happened."

The first to speak was Odette. "We were just trying to f-figure out what they were up to," she cried, choking on a sob.

"They're s-s-so s-s-suspicious," Grace added, her lower lip trembling.

"We think they're up to something," said Winnie, the most held-together one out of the bunch. Hugo and Lily remained quiet. Lily's entire body shook with tears and fear and she tried to find the words to explain her actions. She found she had no voice; her head wasn't working properly. All she could think was that she didn't want to be expelled.

"I can't say I'm impressed," Professor Dixie said sternly. Lily's eyes flicked up to her face; she had never seen her so upset. There was no sparkle in her blue eyes, no smile playing around her pink lips, and no laugh in her voice. She continued to stare at her shoes. "This is the most ridiculous story I have ever heard. You should all be ashamed of yourselves."

"We are," whispered Grace, glaring at Lily out of the corner of her eye. Finally, Lily got the courage to speak up.

"Please, Professor," she nearly whispered. "It was all my fault. I forced them to come with me; I thought Reynard and his friends were up to something…I just wanted to show them that I'm not a good girl all the time…They didn't' want to do it… And Grace even said it was a bad idea!...Winnie and Hugo didn't even go in the room…and I was the one who took something…" she trailed off, waiting for Dixie's face to soften, for her to smile and say it was okay. But she did neither of those things.

"I'm glad you admitted being at fault, Lily," Professor Dixie said, "but the rest of your friends were still out of bed after hours and involved. I'm going to have to punish you all; you'll just get the worst of it." Lily whimpered and felt her knees go weak; she was really in for it now.

"So, as for Winnie and Hugo," she said, nodding to each of them respectively, "one night's detention each; you can serve it next Saturday at six o'clock in my office. Grace and Odette, you'll do the same, and the following Saturday." Everyone sighed and muttered. "I'll be owling all of your parents telling them about this foolish little excursion. And fifty points from Gryffindor. Now, you're all excused. Back to bed."

Lily turned to follow the others out of the office, but Professor Dixie called her back. "Not so fast, Miss Potter. You'll stay here for a moment." She faced the professor again, feeling ready to be sick. She wanted to talk to her alone? All of her friends left and it was just the two of them together.

"Lily," Professor Dixie said, taking a seat on the couch and gesturing for Lily to sit next to her, "I'm extremely disappointed in you. What possessed you to be so stupid?"

Stung by the harsh words, Lily took her seat as far away from Professor Dixie as possible. She kept her mouth closed and stared at the older woman, pain and tears in her eyes.

"Don't look at me like that," she said sharply. "You know it was a stupid thing to do. I think you have a lot of explaining to do, and you'd better do it quickly."

Lily took a ragged breath and swallowed. She spoke quickly, hoping to get the story out of her as fast as possible. "Everyone was making fun of me for being so good so I figured I'd have to do something bad to prove them wrong and then I saw Reynard with the paper and he looked suspicious and I thought it'd be a good idea to figure out what he was up to so I made a plan and forced everyone to come with me and it was a bad idea and I know I shouldn't have done it and I'm sorry."

Professor Dixie nearly smiled. She tucked her legs under her as was custom and reached out to lay a hand on Lily's knee. "Why do you think being a good girl is a bad thing?"

"I don't," Lily admitted, "but everyone else seems to."

"Have you thought that maybe – just maybe – they're jealous of you?"

Lily scoffed, her tears stopping at her sheer amazement. Her friends; jealous of her? "No! Why would they be?"

The professor stroked her chin in mock-thought. "Hmm, let's see," she started, "you're smart, very pretty, very talented, a hit with all the teachers and a wonderful girl. Could that have something to do with it?"

"Oh," Lily said, blushing slightly. "Really?"

"Of course," said Professor Dixie, really smiling now. Lily was relieved that she was no longer angry. "Don't think that doesn't mean I'm not upset with you, though. You're in a lot of trouble, and I'm not going let you off with that just because I think you're something else. You'll serve three detentions with me; two with your friends on Saturday coming and the following, and one this Wednesday night at seven. And I'll be owling your parents."

Lily nodded, feeling as though she might cry again. She stood to leave and did so with a heavy heart; she was in more trouble than she had ever been in before in her life, and it was all for a dumb, prideful reason. She mentally kicked herself for being so stupid.

"And Lily, dear," Professor Dixie called as she reached the door. "Don't try and be anything other than who you are right now. You're just fine the way you are."

*

No one had spoken to Lily as she had climbed into her bed and cried herself to sleep. It took so long for her to drift off, and she was sure her friends had heard her sniffling and trying to keep herself quiet, but no one had come to comfort her. Through her guilt and disappointment at herself, and her fear and anxiety, her heart burned with anger and them for blaming her. She hadn't actually forced them to do it with her; she had begged and pleaded, but no one had held the Avada Kedavra to their heads and marched them down to the dungeons. They were just as guilty as she was, and she was taking all the blame, trying to be a martyr.

Only silence and cold glares passed between the usual cheerily chatting first years at breakfast. Hugo had moved to sit with his other friends, turning his back to Lily, and Mary sat amongst the girls, smirking smugly. The news of what had happened the previous night had spread like wildfire around the school, and Lily had a strange feeling the majority of the buzzing whispers were about her.

Even the teachers were acting differently as she went about her classes. The gossip seemed to have spread from the Great Hall to the staff room, and it was obvious in every class, especially Potions with the Slytherins. Professor Macintyre was particularly cruel, making a point to embarrass and ridicule her so everyone could join in on the laughter. Reynard and his cronies were also discussing her rudely in a stage whisper that carried across the classroom. She flushed with anger, but kept her cool, not wanting to cause any more problems for herself than she already had. However, by the end of the two hour double period, she was very close to tears or beating someone up.

During their morning break, Lily took refuge in an empty classroom to avoid the glares and whispers. Even her fellow Gryffindors were upset with her; they had been in the lead for the House Cup, and now their recent deduction in points had put them in second. It wouldn't be hard to make up, but it was still a downer. She mulled over the prospect of owling her mother and asking to come home, but the fact that she had probably received a very upsetting message in the post that same morning was reason for her not to. Putting her chin in her hands, Lily closed her eyes and tried to block out the pounding headache that was settling across the top of her skull.

As she sat, she thought through the statement she had made to her friends. They finally realized she wasn't as much of a Goodie-Two-Shoes as they thought, but they were too furious with her for getting them in trouble to see it. She wasn't sure if this enlightenment on their behalf was worth the disappointment and anger she was getting from absolutely everyone. She had no one to talk to about her predicament; all of her friends weren't speaking to her, Professor Dixie was upset and her mother was useless. She cringed as the thought of a Howler entered her mind.

The bell rang, and Lily jumped up from her seat. She had Transfiguration next, and she was dreading it more than anything. Hopefully, something would come of her headache and she could ask to be excused to the Hospital Wing. At least Madam Pomfrey wouldn't give her dirty looks.

*

The day went slowly. Her headache hadn't worsened, and although she had considered faking sick, Lily hadn't the heart to lie to her favourite teacher. She had seriously contemplated pretending to be ill just to take the attention off her misbehavior from the previous night. The only lifeboat in the stormy waters was that Dixie hadn't treated Lily poorly. She hadn't been as outright pleasant, but there was no hostility. Even as she packed her books at the end of the class, the teacher had smiled kindly at her before sitting down to her desk.

Dinner was just as quiet as breakfast. No one spoke to Lily, and Lily spoke to no one. She kept her head down and ate quickly, leaving the table before the pudding was served and heading to the common room. She figured it would be empty, but she was mistaken. When she climbed through the portrait hole, she groaned audibly.

"If it isn't our star troublemaker," her brother, James greeted her with a goofy grin. He patted the seat next to him on the sofa by the fire. "Come have a seat, sister of mine. You've got some explaining to do!"

Lily narrowed her eyes but sat next to him, anyway. She stared at the ever-glowing fire, watching the flames lick the brick insides and curl upwards.

"So?" he prompted, "come on; dish. You've never been in trouble before. What got into you?"

James' voice was much softer and kinder than usual. He wasn't teasing or tormenting her; he was generally trying to make her feel better. The effort was futile, however. The only thing that could make Lily feel better was time-traveling backwards and stopping herself from being so stupid.

She sighed heavily and blinked back the tears that had been threatening to fall all day. "I just had to prove that I could be a rule-breaker."

"But you're not," James stated, confusion lining the disbelief.

"No, I'm not," Lily agreed, "any everyone knows it. But I wanted to…I don't know what I wanted to do. I didn't think."

"Obviously," he nodded. "What were you looking for, anyway?"

"A piece of paper. The Slytherins are plotting something, I just have no idea what. The paper was just covered with acronyms and numbers, it didn't say anything I could understand."

"Well, when you're dealing with Slytherins," James said with a growl, "it's hard to understand anything."

"So I've found out," Lily said dryly. She sighed and scratched a spot on her arm.

"Mom's going to be livid you know," he told her. "The first time I got an owl sent home…Okay, the first time of many, she nearly hopped on a broomstick and flew here to yell at me in person. She was so angry, I was actually scared. But really, she cooled off after a while. I mean, she couldn't be mad at me forever. Don't be nervous; it's not like she doesn't love you or anything. She just doesn't like you," he finished with a grin.

Lily shrugged. "I don't think she's going to be that upset. Well, okay, she will be, but that's not what I'm worried about."

"What, then?"

"Detention," Lily said in a whisper. James laughed.

"That's nothing! My first detention, I wrote lines for an hour and then left. The second one, I polished some trophies. Sometimes, they make you write an essay about why you shouldn't have done what you did or something. It's no big deal. Who do you have it with, anyway?" he asked.

"Professor Dixie," Lily said quietly.

"Well, you have nothing to worry about then! She's such a softy," he said with a smile. "She hardly ever gives detentions, but when she does, sometimes they're actually fun!"

Lily raised her eyebrows. "How can you have fun while being punished?"

"You just have to make her laugh," he said, his grin widening. "Get her going with a few good jokes; she's one of these teachers that'll talk to you while you're doing whatever she set on you as a punishment."

"I'm not funny," Lily told him. "She'll never laugh at anything I have to say!"

"Then make her feel bad for you," said James in an expert way. "Go in crying – that won't be hard, you'll probably cry anyway – and just milk it for all it's worth. Act a total wreck. But, again, you won't have to act at all. You _will _be a total wreck."

If Lily hadn't known it to be true, she would have been upset with James for pointing it out. But she was sure that he was right.

"When's your detention, anyway?" James asked.

"First one on Wednesday by myself, second Saturday with everyone and third the following Saturday with just Odette and Grace," she listed, feeling like the bottom of her stomach had dropped out.

James whistled low through his teeth. "Wow, three in one go. I think, darling Lily, you broke my record!"

She glared at him and punched him playfully in the arm, but smiled slightly at his nickname for her; 'Darling Lily'. He said it was something to do with the fact that she had red hair like a character in a movie, and her name was Lili. He had been calling her that since she could remember, and he was the only one in the family whom she allowed to.

"It won't be that bad," he assured her. But Lily still had one thing on her mind.

"James," she started, "my friends are mad at me because I got them all in trouble. How do I make them forgive me?"

"Just convince them that you've got it much worse than they do," he said knowingly. "I've been in that situation before. You said you've got a single detention on Wednesday? Come back telling them how hard you worked and how much you regret it, and just apologize over and over again. They'll come around."

"Alright. You promise?"

"Of course, little sister. When have I ever lied to you?" he smirked.

"Hmm, let's think," Lily said sarcastically. "I can remember at _least_ one time, maybe two, but no more."

"If only," James said longingly. The portrait hole opened with a bang behind them, and they both turned to see Grace enter. She glanced over at James and Lily, and paused before heading up the stairs to their dorm.

"You coming to bed?" she asked Lily softly. Lily grinned at her and wished James a hasty good night.

"Yep," she said, bolting over to her friend and stopping short at her feet. They looked at each other for a moment, and then moved together in a hug in a single motion.

"I'm sorry," they cried in unison.

"Ahh," James said whimsically as they headed from the room, "the everlasting bonds of friendship."

Lily snickered at his dramatic tones as she and Grace climbed the stairs and entered the empty dormitory room. The two girls hopped onto Lily's bed and grinned at each other.

"So, you forgive me?" Lily asked, cocking her head slightly to the left.

Grace sighed. "Yeah, I suppose I do. It's not entirely your fault that we were caught; just partially."

"Hey, come on now," Lily giggled. "You didn't get _caught_ because of me; you were just_ there_ because of me."

"So, if it weren't for you, we wouldn't have been there, and therefore, we wouldn't have gotten caught," Grace reasoned with a smirk.

"Fine, it's my fault and I accept total blame," Lily resigned. "But I have it way worse than you all! I have three detentions, not two, and not to mention, my mother is going to kill me. I wouldn't be surprised if she showed up at breakfast tomorrow with a wooden spoon and beat me in front of the entire school."

Grace looked serious. "Would she actually?"

Lily laughed at the sheer ridiculousness of it. "No! But she'll probably send me a very angry letter with the post…Or, worse, a Howler." Grace shuddered.

"I won't be able to help feeling sorry for you then," said Grace, looking sincere. "I've convinced everyone else to forgive you, I think. Hugo's still a little sore, but I'd say that'll fade with the bruise on his ear."

They both laughed loudly at the memory of Hugo being held by the ear lobe, looking scared out of his wits. They giggled and snorted and rolled around, clutching at their stomachs, tears streaming from their eyes. It wasn't really that funny, but it felt good to laugh after the whole day of being furious with each other. They laughed until they couldn't laugh any more, all the nerves and guilt from the night before escaping their bodies and being replaced with delight and relief. The two girls collapsed into the covers of Lily's bed, gasping for breath and very red in the face.

"Well, Grace," Lily said formally once she'd paused for air, "it's very nice to have to back."

Grace giggled. "It's very nice to be back, Lily," she said, holding her hand across herself for Lily to shake. Lying next to her best friend, heads touching on the pillow, Lily grasped Grace's hand and shook it firmly. They broke apart and burst into laughter again, not even noticing when the rest of the girls came and went to bed. Neither of them got up to change or get in their own beds; they just lay next to each other, basking in the warm glow of friendship until they fell asleep.


	8. Speculating in the Dark

**Learning How to Shine**

To say the least, Lily was overjoyed to have her friends back. It was a fact that their anger had lasted only one day, but she had been so lonely and she was never very good at coping on her own. She awoke in a good mood, got dressed carefully and waited patiently for the rest of the girls to wake up. She figured nothing could damper her good mood; even the weather was pleasantly warm for autumn, and the sun was shining brightly in a robin's egg sky.

The Gryffindors seemed to have forgotten about Lily's mishap; they were no longer cool towards her, but more like the family they normally were, smiling at the first years in greeting when they sat down at an empty space at the very end near the Staff table. Lily grabbed a bowl of porridge and sat talking to Grace and Winnie, gazing around the room in a placid manner, not looking at anything until…

"Oh my gosh," Lily exclaimed through a mouthful of porridge. "Professor Dixie!" She said it so loud that she was sure said professor heard her, but the witch at the table to her left didn't acknowledge she had just been spoken about

Grace gave her a puzzled look. "What about her?"

"I have my detention tonight!" she moaned, thumping her forehead off the table.

"Awe, poor Lily," said Mary sarcastically, patting her on the back. Lily, face still on the table, rolled her eyes.

"Yes, poor me," she retorted, voice slightly muffled from the force of her lips on the wood. "In case you were wondering, Professor Dixie has made it very clear that she's not going easy on me. This is going to be brutal."

"What do you expect her to do to you?" asked Odette, sounding slightly concerned. "Too all of us," she added quietly.

"I don't know," Lily mumbled, her fantastic mood vanishing. "It's not going to be fun, let's just agree on that."

*

As the day wore on, Lily's stomach began to twist in an honestly nervous way. It wasn't like her to be in trouble or break rules, and now she knew why. It was too stressful! Her anxiety level was through the roof, and she had a very hard time staying focused on school work and her friends. Her mind kept wandering towards her punishment later on that evening.

There was no word of her detention in Transfiguration from her friends, nor her teacher. They all seemed to realize that she knew what was coming, and they all kept their distance. No one wanted to cross Lily, because they all wanted information from her later. It was the first detention anyone in the first year from Gryffindor had received. When Lily realized this, she groaned audibly.

The day seemed to fly, and it was blatantly contradicting Lily's wish for it to go as slowly as possible. She kept glaring at her watch, thinking that if she knew how, she'd put a spell on it so it'd slow down. But alas, she knew no such spell, and her watch wasn't the only time-keeping device in the world. She wouldn't be able to put off the punishment.

By six thirty, Lily had left dinner, climbed the many stairs back to the Gryffindor tower and changed into something more comfortable that her school robes. She settled on sweat pants and a sweater, and threw her hair up into a ponytail to keep it off of her face. She knew she'd be early if she left the tower at that time, but she didn't really care one way or the other. Better than being late, she thought.

Lily took her time as she headed down the flights of stairs, focusing very hard on her feet moving and not so much where they were moving to. _This won't be bad_, she kept telling herself. _It's Professor Dixie! Really, it's not like she's going to kill me. I hope._

Before she knew it, she was outside the Transfiguration Mistress' office, pacing back and forth in the hallway, waiting for her watch to read eight o'clock. Her stomach was really turning now, jostling up and down and doing summersaults that she didn't think she'd handle for much longer. She had the strangest sensation that she was being watched; a few times, she thought she heard someone snicker or whisper behind her, but when she looked around, no one could be seen. _Ten minutes…seven…four…two…one…_

She walked up to the door and knocked briskly on it three times. She took a deep breath as it was pulled open and reveled Professor Dixie, standing with a half stern, half welcoming expression on her face. She stepped back and gestured for Lily to come inside, then closed the door behind her.

"Well, Miss Potter," she said stiffly, and Lily flinched at the use of her surname. Since when had she been anything but Lily? "Your first detention, and if I'm not mistaken, the first I've had to give to any of my first years. I'm very disappointed in you."

Lily felt her breath tighten in her chest, and she suddenly felt very light-headed. The guilt trip was too much for her. She hung her head, trying not to cry, but the tears of shame wouldn't hold back. She was slightly upset with herself; she was doing nothing but crying lately! When she spoke, her voice was tight and she was out of breath.

"I-I'm s-sorry," she stuttered, confused as to why she was finding it difficult to intake air.

"Lily, are you okay?" asked Dixie, crouching down to eye-level with the eleven year old.

"I c-can't br-breathe," said Lily, clutching at the neck of her tee-shirt. She was starting to sweat, and she was panting like a dog. Her breaths came very short, shallow and fast, and she felt as though she were made of air; everything was very light, and her hands were unusable.

"Sit down," Professor Dixie urged her, leading her to the sofa and forcing her into a sitting position.

"What's going o-on?" Lily gasped, eyes wide in fear.

"You're having a panic attack, I think," said the professor, a faint amount of guilt in her concerned voice. "It's alright, Lily. Just focus on my face and breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth. Don't concentrate to hard on your breathing. That's a girl, in through your nose, out through your…Don't look away, come on. Look at me, and breathe…"

After a few minutes of hyperventilating, Lily's breathing slowed and eventually turned back to normal. She sat, staring at her professor's face, trying very hard not to have another panic attack. By the end of it, she was in tears and shaking all over. Her nerves were shot, and she didn't know where to get to.

"Why did that happen?" Lily asked breathlessly, a little embarrassed.

"It's an anxiety thing," Professor Dixie answered, pushing a bit of blonde hair out of her face. "You must have been really nervous; it's called hyperventilating. Don't worry, it happens all the time."

"I'm sorry," Lily said quietly, staring meekly at her lap.

"My dear, don't be sorry," said the professor gently, smiling at Lily. "It's nothing you can control; in fact, when I was your age, maybe a little older, I used to have anxiety attacks, too! Especially when it came time for exams, I used to get so overwhelmed that I'd hyperventilate and pass out, right there! You learn to control them after a while, though, so don't worry."

Lily smiled softly, enjoying the fact that her teacher had confided this not-so-personal bit of her past. It was like having a friend, a mother and a sister all rolled into one wonderful person. However, she looked around and remembered that she was in detention…she was there to be punished, not make small talk. Professor Dixie seemed to remember, as well, for she stood up and reinstated the firm expression on her face.

"Now, about your detention," said Professor Dixie, "I'd like for you to sort through these," she waved her wand, and boxes of course work appeared on the table at Lily's knees, "and put them into order. They're all labeled at the top, but they're mixed up, so sort them into piles according to the title, please."

Lily nodded and set to work, first sorting the Transfiguration sheets and assignments into grade levels, then into sub categories according to what type of homework it was. Her professor watched her work, smiling faintly and offering her pink and red striped peppermints, which Lily took and sucked on gratefully. There was clearly nothing magical about them, but they tasted like heaven. They chatted lightly, not really having much of a conversation, but it made the mood a lot more pleasant.

It took her a full two hours to get through the boxes, but it wasn't grueling work, and Lily had always been one who enjoyed organizing things. She grinned at Professor Dixie, who moved back to her desk and sat down behind it. Lily followed her and stood around the other side, waiting to be dismissed.

"Thank you, Lily," Professor Dixie said earnestly. "I'm glad to see you didn't' complain."

"Complain?" Lily exclaimed, "I love organizing things like that! It clears my head."

Professor Dixie chuckled. "Well, I'm glad you enjoyed yourself at detention with me. I hear that far too much," she added with another laugh.

Lily was silent for a moment, but then a couple of thoughts hit her at once. "Professor, I take it we're not going to have tea on Saturday, if I have a…detention that night?"

"No, I'm afraid not," Dixie said gently, a sad smile on her face. "I can't socialize with my students in the morning and punish them in the evening, now, can I?"

"No," Lily agreed. "And Professor? About that study group Professor McGonagall told me about; is that still going ahead?"

"It is," she said with a nod. "We're thinking about having the first meeting just before Christmas break; that gives people the holiday to think up some questions and subjects they're having trouble with, and plus, tell their friends!"

"I think I'll invite some of my friends to come along," Lily informed her.

"What a wonderful idea! Well, that's all for tonight, Lily. I'll see you in class tomorrow, and don't forget about Saturday night, six thirty, in my office." The professor rose from her desk and escorted Lily to the door, opening it for her.

Lily went out into the hall and headed back towards Gryffindor tower. The feeling she had earlier that she was being watched was back, and the darkening sky and dim lights in the corridor didn't help the creepy setting much. Just as she turned the corner, someone popped out from behind a tapestry and Lily squealed. She reached for her wand, but realized too late that it wasn't there, and before she knew it, someone yelled at her, a streak of red light hit her in the chest and she was down…

*

Professor Dixie watched Lily as she headed down the hall. She felt awful for the girl; such a sweet little thing, and so nervous about being punished. It was clearly against her nature to do things that were against the rules, but she still hadn't an idea why she had! However, she kept her eye on Lily as she turned the corner, and then a blood-curdling scream made her gasp and go after her at a run.

The sight she came upon made the hair on Julie Dixie's neck stand up. On the floor at her feet was Lily Potter, who not moments ago had been wishing her a good night at her office door. She knelt to examine the small frame, checking for a pulse, and was glad to see that her little heart was still beating. She looked up from her crouch to identify the culprits who had attacked Lily. Standing over the unconscious body were three Slytherin boys; two whom she recognized as first years, and one whom she figured to be a sixth or seventh year. The older boy was rather intimidating, with a strong jaw line and an evil glint in his dark eyes. The professor summoned up all her courage, pulled herself up to her full height and made eye contact with the seventh year. She was furious, but could not let her temper get in the way of her professionalism.

"Excuse me, boys," she said in her most condescending, sweet voice. "What do you think you're doing?"

The older boy sneered at her, while the younger two stepped behind his huge self. "We're just having a little dueling practice, _Professor_," he spat, his tone full of mockery. His hand was gripped tightly on his wand, and Julie found it difficult to restrain herself from grabbing her own. She was not permitted to duel with students; she could lose her job! But this student wasn't normal; he seemed dangerous. Still, perhaps he wasn't going to do anything…

Light footsteps behind her made Julie turn; Grace Everheart was coming down the hall, probably looking for Lily. The Slytherin boy followed her gaze and noticed the girl coming towards them. He raised his wand and took careful aim.

"Grace!" called Professor Dixie, but she was too late. The boy had yelled, "Stupefy!" just as the girl had heard her name called out; she was on the ground unconscious moments later. Forgetting all rules and professional duties, Professor Dixie grabbed inside her cardigan for her wand and slashed it through the air, but the boy was too quick for her, as well; her anger was causing her to lose focus. His shield charm caught her off guard, but she recovered quickly. Curses, hexes and jinxes flew, both giving it all they had. However, Julie took a moment to look back over her shoulder at Grace and Lily, and that split second was more than enough time for the Slytherin to disarm her. She gasped, vulnerable now. With her wand clasped tight in his other hand, he hit her with a curse and she writhed in pain for a moment before slipping out of consciousness and into darkness…

*

It was too bright. Everything was gleaming, making her head pound and she couldn't see properly. There was someone hovering over her, and even as she blinked, she couldn't make out who it was. People were speaking in hushed voices, familiar voices. If only she could clear her eyes, focus on something, anything…

Lily pushed herself into a sitting position, her entire body aching. Her head spun slightly and she put her hands out on either side of her to get steady. Blinking again, she saw that the face that had been hovering over her own was that of Professor McGonagall. She was with Madam Pomfrey, the matron, and they were looking very worried.

"Minerva," said Madam Pomfrey, pointing to where Lily sat.

"Oh!" McGonagall exclaimed. "Well, Poppy, we'll continue this later. Thank you for your help."

Madam Pomfrey nodded and bustled away to her office, closing the door behind her. McGonagall came closer to Lily's bedside, fixing her with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Lily?" Professor McGonagall said, her usual briskness replaced by concern. "How do you feel?"

"Alright," Lily said evasively. "Why am I here, Professor?"

McGonagall shook her head, tutting. "You don't remember?"

"No," said Lily. "What happened? I'm sore all over, and my head's all fuzzy…"

"Dear me," McGonagall crooned, "just as I thought…Obliviated…No memory what-so-ever…I can't believe it…"

"Professor?" Lily interrupted. "No memory, you said. What do you mean?"

"Oh, Miss Potter," McGonagall said sadly, "you, your friend, Miss Everheart," she said, pointing to the bed on Lily's left, "and Professor Dixie," pointing to the bed on her right, "where found last night in the Transfiguration corridor, all unconscious. We haven't the faintest idea of who did it, and both of your memories have been wiped!"

Lily took a moment to comprehend what she was being told. Her memory had been wiped; where had she been last night? She figured she must have been with Grace and Professor Dixie. Maybe they had been having tea? Or was it a detention? Lily remembered heading down to her professor's office, feeling nervous about something, but after that…

"Professor, I don't remember anything," Lily cried woefully.

"I know, Miss Potter," barked McGonagall, "I just told you your memory has been wiped!" Lily nodded foolishly, and regretted it when her head started to pound and spin again.

"So, you don't have –"

"No, we don't know who did it," McGonagall cut her off sharply, and Lily was sure she noticed her eyes roll towards the ceiling. "But we have a hunch. Professor Dixie…well, she's still unconscious. We haven't been able to wake her yet."

Lily let out a small whimper. "But, you woke me up, and Grace," Lily said, pointing to her friend who was clearly just sleeping; her chest was rising up and down, and every now and then she'd mutter in her sleep, like she did normally.

"Yes, we did," said McGonagall, rubbing her temple with her thumb, "but Julie…That is, Professor Dixie has been cursed, not just stunned. It appears to have been by," McGonagall dropped her voice lower, "Dark Magic."

"But Professor," Lily said slowly, eyebrows creased in concentration. She was finding it difficult to understand things; probably an effect of combined Stunning and Memory Charms. "How can you know? And who would do such a thing?"

"Dark Magic leaves a mark, Potter," Professor McGonagall explained tiredly, "like a scar or tattoo of some kind. Professor Dixie has a newly found half-moon on her chest where the curse hit her; it looks like a normal scar, but on closer examination, it's obviously a Dark mark. Much like the scar your father still bares," she added. "And it's been years since we've had any talk of Dark Magic, especially in schools, but…Well, never mind. We have an idea, and if our guess proves itself true, the person or persons behind this scheme will be punished. You needn't know any more than that," she finished abruptly. Lily was slightly disappointed that McGonagall wouldn't tell her who she was cursed by, but she didn't press for more information. She had realized on her first day that McGonagall was certainly not one to cross.

"Professor," Lily started again. McGonagall sighed slightly impatiently, but did not prevent her from speaking, "will you be able to wake her up?"

"Her? You mean Professor Dixie?" McGonagall asked. "Well, yes, eventually. Madam Pomfrey is working on it, and we've contacted a Healer at St. Mungo's, and also a fellow from the Auror office, so eventually something will…"

"How long?" Lily interrupted, receiving a reproachful stare from McGonagall. However, the Headmistress did not reprimand her, whether out of pity or sheer tiredness.

"We're not sure," McGonagall said quietly. "Now, it's nearly dinner time. You slept through the whole day. I must head down to the Great Hall, but if you'd like something to eat, just tell Madam Pomfrey and she'll send to the kitchens for you. Good evening, Miss Potter," she said and was gone with a soft bang from the double doors. Lily ignored her rumbling stomach, too queasy with worry to eat anything, and settled back down into her sheets.

Madam Pomfrey came back out of the office a few seconds after McGonagall had gone, and came to Lily's bedside with a bottle of purple potion and a spoon. She tucked the sheets in around Lily's small frame and poured some of the thick violet liquid onto the spoon.

"Here, dear," she said, and Lily opened her mouth obligingly, swallowing the foul-tasting, ice cold goop with a grimace. "That'll take away the fuzzies in your head so you can think clearer. Hopefully, after a few more doses of that, you'll be able to lift the Memory Charm and remember some things from last night."

Lily nodded slowly. "How long will I have to stay here?" she asked the matron, rubbing her tongue of the roof of her mouth to try and warm it up.

"Until Professor McGonagall says you can leave," Madam Pomfrey told her briskly. "And even longer than that if I see fit. You're staying here at least until your body stops aching - don't look at me like that, child, I can see you wincing every time to adjust your position – and your memory will have to come back. Give it three or four days; you're in an awful state, you know. You haven't looked in a mirror yet."

"How bad is it?" Lily questioned, touching her face gingerly, flinching in pain.

"You've got some pretty bad bruising on your face – that's nothing I can't take care of, but the cut on your head is pretty bad, and we don't want it getting infected. Now, lie back down and stop being so impertinent!" Madam Pomfrey finished, grabbing her potion and spoon and heading back to the office. Lily crossed her arms sulkily. Why was everyone giving her half answers? It wasn't like she was a baby, or couldn't handle it. She was, after all, the one who had been cursed in the first place. She sighed and laid her head back down on the pillow, figuring sleep was the best way to make the days move quicker.

*

Lily awoke during the afternoon of the next day. She had dreamt that night, but she couldn't remember what it had been about, and it was driving her nuts. She was lying in bed, concentrating very hard on picking her brain, when the Hospital Wing doors opened and the people who entered brought a smile to her face.

"Hi," exclaimed Winnie, hurrying over to Lily's bed and jumping up. Lily winced slightly as she shifted, but her excitement at seeing her friends overrode the pain.

Along with Winnie, Odette, Mary, Hugo, James, Al, Teddy, Molly, Lucy and Rose all crowded in to the room, standing around her bed, settling in visitors' chairs and leaning against the walls. Madam Pomfrey burst for her office, brandishing her wand and looking angry.

"No more than five visitors per patient!" she cried, scowling at them.

"We're here visiting Grace," said Odette, pointing around to herself, James, Mary, Hugo and Al.

"Yes, and we're here to see Lily," said Molly, grinning and gesturing to the rest.

Madam Pomfrey looked cross, but said, "fine, then," and went back to her office, closing the door with a loud bang behind her. The noise seemed to finally rouse Grace from her slumber, and her eyes flew open. "Wazzamatter?" she muttered sleepily.

"Morning, Gracie," called Al cheerfully.

"More like afternoon," corrected James. "It's," he checked his watch," two thirty."

"What are you all doing out of class, then?" Lily scolded lightly. "Not that I care; I've been really bored since I woke up, but still!"

"McGonagall gave all your family and friends special permission to come and see you," Teddy explained, pulling a piece of parchment from his pocket. It was addressed in green ink, so it was obviously authentically McGonagall.

"Yes, we've all got one!" Rose said, grinning. "It's like, the best Get-Out-of-Jail-Free Card ever. Way to go, Lil!"

"Way to take one for the team, Lily," added Hugo excitedly, brandishing his parchment. Rose punched him in the arm. "Blimey! That hurt!"

"Sorry," Rose said, rolling her eyes.

"So, where are the rest of the Weasleys?" Grace asked with a laugh. Ever since Lily had sat her friend down with a copy of the family tree, her ridiculously enormous family had been a source of great amusement for her. "Don't you guys have about forty more cousins?"

"Mm, about that many," James said thoughtfully.

"Actually," Lucy interrupted factually. Lily rolled her eyes slightly; she was the most like her father, Percy, out of her and Molly. _At least she doesn't have his big head_, Lily thought. "We have five more cousins; Roxanne, Fred, Dominique, Victorie and Louis."

"So, where are they?" asked Grace, exchanging a smirk with Lily.

"Dom said that they three of them would wait until later on to come see you, so we weren't all here at once. Don't want Madam Pomfrey to get her knickers in a knot," said Teddy with a grin. "And Roxanne was in class with Flitwick; I'd imagine she was trying to catch up on Charms. She got busted last week for talking in his class with Victorie and he kicked her out, so she's a bit behind."

Lily giggled. "And Fred?"

"I'd imagine he's planning some big surprise or other for you," James said. "I asked him to come with me, but he was 'studying'."

"Ha!" Molly barked a laugh. "Studying, Fred? Not a chance. I'd be careful if I were you, Lily, who knows what he's got up his robe sleeves."

"Anyway, you lot," Teddy said, standing up from the chair he'd been lounging in, "we'd better be going then. The bell's about to ring any minute, and I wouldn't put it past McGonagall to give us all detention, even if we had permission from her to be out of class."

Everyone muttered their agreement and some quick goodbyes, and headed out the doors. Lily felt oddly lonely with them gone, and was looking forward to when the rest of her cousins came by later. She turned to Grace, who was propped up on her elbow in the bed next to her, and sighed.

"So, have you any theories?" Grace asked her.

"About what?" Lily wondered, cocking her head slightly and getting a shooting pain up her right arm. She righted her neck and the pain went away, but it had made her dizzy.

"About who attacked us," exclaimed Grace in a voice that clearly added 'obviously'.

"Oh! Well, yeah, I have. It's rather plain to see, don't you think," Lily told her, lying her head back down.

"Er, no, I don't seem actually," Grace said, fluttering her big blue eyes.

"Come on! It's obviously Reynard getting back at us for sneaking into his room," Lily said.

"Didn't he already do that? Don't you remember; getting us in detention, turning the entire school against us, losing all those points…?"

"It's Reynard," said Lily plainly. "That's definitely not good enough for him."

"Don't you think you ought to tell someone, then?" Grace said, rolling over onto her back.

"Come off it," Lily replied, "just imagine. 'Er, excuse me, Professor McGonagall? I was just thinking, maybe it was Reynard Sly who attacked us, because he's a slimy, vengeful git.' I'm sure that would go over well."

"You never know!" defended Grace. "She could be thinking the exact same thing!"

"I guess so," Lily said, her attention grabbed by Madam Pomfrey coming back out of her office with the purple potion again. Lily grimaced and waited until it was her turn to swallow the awful stuff; it reminded her of petroleum jelly. She watched interestedly as Madam Pomfrey inspected Professor Dixie, who was still unconscious and stiff in the bed to her right. The matron frowned and took the young woman's pulse with her wand tip, tutting and bustling around. She flicked her wand and a chart appeared, on which she wrote a few lines and vanished again.

"Feeling any better, girls?" Madam Pomfrey asked the two when she looked up from Professor Dixie.

"A bit," said Grace.

"Yeah," Lily agreed, "a bit."

"Well, perhaps some sleep will do you good. Why don't you close your eyes and try it, hmm?" The matron swished her wand again and the curtains closed, blocking out a dreary grey sky and misty light. The Hospital Wing was dark and quiet, and Madam Pomfrey went back into her office and closed the door. Lily hummed contently and rearranged herself so she was more comfortable.

Lying in the dark with her eyes closed, Lily couldn't help but speculate about the Slytherin involvement in the attack on her, Grace and Professor Dixie. It made perfect sense; the only part missing was the Dark Magic. Sly definitely wasn't smart or powerful enough to curse someone into unconsciousness, which meant it either wasn't him, or he had someone help him. Lily racked her mind, trying her hardest to think back to that night…Nothing came of it, though. She growled to herself, frustrated with the block that came up in her mind.

The parchment they had stolen from the Slytherins' dormitory swam before her eyes, and she thought back to what was written on it…_PDLPC_…What if the codes and the attack had been connected? But what did it mean? Were those letters an abbreviated curse or attack, or perhaps initials of the people that Sly was using to help him…

Initials! Could that be it? Maybe…Could LP stand for Lily Potter? Had they been planning it all along? Lily had figured it was a random attack; that she had just happened to be wandering around the hall at the wrong time. But if it was planned, that meant that the other letters had to mean something to. PD; Professor Dixie? And what about the C? It didn't make any sense; Lily thought that perhaps Professor McGonagall was right to keep her uninformed. Nothing was very clear to her, and her speculations were making her paranoid and anxious. She pushed the thoughts from her mind and tired to convince her body to shut down and sleep.

But her body protested; her mind begged to keep working. If she could only remember what had happened that night, who had been waiting at the end of the hall…At the end of the hall! She had been coming from Professor Dixie's room, serving her detention; it was starting to come back to her. She closed her eyes together tightly and clenched her jaw. Memories were starting to come to the front of her mind, swimming and shimmering but not fully forming. She remembered a scream - had it been her own, or someone else's? – and someone had yelled something at her; she just couldn't remember what.

Frustration now added to her list of emotions, Lily found it very hard to do anything but lie there and stare into the blackness. When she opened her eyes, she realized she must have dozed off, because the room didn't have the grayish glow of shaded windows; it was thick, heavy darkness, and Lily couldn't see her own hand in front of her face. She thought back to the memories that she had been so close to grabbing moments ago – or was it hours ago? Lying in the dark, she had no sense of time. Two days in the Hospital Wing was skewing her comprehension of day and night, and she figured three more days of it would totally mess her up. At least she'd have time to let the memories come back, if they came back at all.

**A/N: Is Lily speculating correctly, or is she just taking a shot in the dark. She seems the type to be vengeful, does she not? What do you think; who's behind the attack, what to the letters on the parchment mean, and why would someone do such things? Review and let me know, ask some questions, give some criticism, or tell me if you liked it or not! :) And, if you have any suggestions for plot and character, I'm more than willing to take them into account. Reviewwwwww.**


	9. Waking Up to Work it Out

**Learning How to Shine**

A gentle hand shook Lily awake on the last day of her stay in the Hospital Wing. As Grace had been discharged the previous day, Lily knew it couldn't be her; she wondered who would be there to wake her up. But before her eyes opened so she could identify the hand, a flowery scent drifted towards her and she knew immediately who was standing over her. Her eyes shot open and a smile crossed her lips.

"Mum!" Lily exclaimed, sitting up straight in bed. Ginny bent down and kissed her on the forehead, a worried line creased between her brows. Harry was also there, standing behind his wife and looking very happy to be seeing his daughter. He moved over and ruffled her hair, then kissed her on the cheek.

"Lily, are you okay?" Ginny asked, sitting on the edge of the hospital bed. Lily's mother flattened her daughter's hair, tucked the blankets around her and fidgeted restlessly from her perch on top of the crisp white sheets. Lily was too glad to see her parents to be irritated by her mother's fussing, and let her continue. "Honey, we were so worried! When Professor McGonagall owled us, I didn't know where to get to! I…are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Mum, really," Lily said earnestly. "The bruising is really gone down, and I'm not sore at all. I was for the first two days, but its loads better now."

Ginny gave Lily a withering look. "Lily, have you looked in a mirror lately?"

Lily shook her head.

"If you had, you'd know that your face looks like you got on the wrong end of a Hippogriff," Harry said with a smirk.

"Oh," said Lily softly.

"And your memory," Ginny asked quietly, "have you been able to remember anything?"

Lily paused before speaking. Should she tell her mother what she had remembered? She would be pinning everything directly on Reynard, but she had plenty reason to believe it was him. She took a deep breath and said, "Yes."

"Well, tell us what it is!" demanded Ginny, looking very anxious.

"Maybe Professor McGonagall should be here, dear," Harry told his wife gently, placing a hand on her shoulder. She shot him a glare, but nodded her agreement.

Taking a few nervous breaths, Lily watched interestedly as her father pulled his wand from his pocket, waved it in a short ark and whispered something to the enormous silver stag that erupted from the tip. She felt her mouth drop open in awe as the gorgeous beast bowed his long neck, then took off through the solid wood door into the rest of the school. Within moments, a silvery tabby cat with square spectacle markings lurked through the door, and stopped at Harry's feet.

"I'm on my way, Potter," said Professor McGonagall's crisp voice from the cat's mouth, and then it vanished in a dewy mist. Lily and her parents sat in the Hospital Wing, an anticipating silence settling over them. Grace was still sleeping soundly in the bed to Lily's left, and Professor Dixie was unconscious to her right. She looked between them, sighing heavily.

When Professor McGonagall entered the room, Lily's stomach did a nervous flip. She had thought over her theory for the entire day previous, not really wanting to do the homework her friends had brought up. She had wanted to tell someone, anyone, about what she thought, and had confided in Grace more than once. However, her friend had simply nodded and agreed, not putting much thought into her answers, which left Lily feeling as though she was wrong. Now that she was presented with the opportunity to get her theories off her chest, she wasn't sure if she wanted to do so.

"Hello, Professor," Ginny said cordially. McGonagall smiled softly and moved to embrace her.

"Don't be so formal, Ginny," McGonagall said in her usual brisk tone. Ginny smiled sheepishly. "We're all adults here, members of the Order, and you still insist on referring to me as 'Professor'."

"Minerva," greeted Harry, and he held out his hand. McGonagall took it in hers and wrung it warmly. Then, she turned to Lily and fixed her with a politely interested expression on her face, but her eyes were hungry for answers. They danced with an unfamiliar light that Lily was surprised to see.

"Miss Potter," stated McGonagall, "your father tells me you remembered something from the other night. Would you be so kind as to share it with us?"

Lily took a few more deep breaths and closed her eyes. When she opened them, all three of the adults in the room were staring at her, waiting for her to begin. She grimaced and shifted uncomfortably in her bed, and began. "I remember coming out of Professor Dixie's room, and walking down the hall. There was someone waiting there, and they jumped from behind a tapestry and then there was a scream. I don't know if it was me or someone else, but then someone yelled something and that's all I can remember."

Her mother looked ecstatic that Lily could remember anything at all, but McGonagall and Harry looked slightly disappointed. Had they been expecting her to identify her attacker or attackers? She was frustrated that they expected so much of her.

"Well, if that's all," McGonagall started, but Lily interrupted.

"Professor? I have something else I'd like to share."

"Get on with it, then," the older woman said sharply. Not deterred by the Headmistress' harsh manner, Lily told them about the night she had snuck into the Slytherin common room and what she had found. She gave her opinion on what the letters on the paper could mean, and then informed them about Reynard's attack on her kitten and his obvious dislike for her; a dislike that bordered on dangerous hatefulness.

Ginny had resorted to straightening Lily's sheets again, this time with an air of upset. Harry was standing at his wife's side, looking extremely angry, while McGonagall was again scrutinizing Lily.

"So, what you're saying," she said slowly, the words coming out very quietly, "is that you think the Slytherins are behind this attack, and Mr Sly is behind it all?" Lily nodded.

"It sounds just like Draco Malfoy reincarnated," Harry said in a slightly contemptuous way.

"Mr Malfoy is not dead, Potter," McGonagall said offhandedly, "but you're right. It's almost as if…"

"…As if they're trying to reform the Death Eaters?" Ginny asked in a hushed voice, ceasing her obsessive fluffing of Lily's pillow.

"You took the words right out of my mouth," spat Harry. "You can't let this happen, Minerva!"

"As if I would," she said bitterly. "There will be no uprising of Dark Magic in this school; not while I'm at its head!" She turned on her heel and swept from the room, banging the doors behind her.

Lily felt all of the colour drain from her face. Her father had told her stories about the Death Eaters; how he and her mother had fought them multiple times, how they weren't afraid to use Unforgivable Curses as if they were Tickling Charms, and didn't care how many people got killed on their rise to power. They were vile, ruthless and despicable creatures; Harry didn't even refer to them as people. He said the worst kind of wizard was one who used magic to hurt, terrify and destroy. They had caused Lily's family quite a lot of pain in the past, and the thought of them returning to her school made her entire body go cold, as if she had been drenched with ice water.

Ginny and Harry stood in silence, exchanging meaningful glances. Lily looked between them, getting the feeling that they were exchanging words without actually saying anything. Dread settled over the little family like a thick fog, making it impossible to think about anything else. Somewhere outside the window, an owl hooted mournfully, and Lily jumped at the noise. Ginny turned to her concernedly and sighed.

"So," Harry said, breaking the silence and sitting down in a chair by Lily's bedside.

"Where do you think she's gone?" Lily asked her parents quietly.

"I dunno," said Harry, "she could be gone to talk to some of the other teachers and see what they think about it."

"Probably," Ginny agreed. "Lily, dear, do you want us to stay the night?"

"No, Mum, that's okay. I'm fine here!" said Lily. "You don't have to stay just for me."

Ginny looked from her daughter to Harry. "Are you sure? It's no trouble."

"If you want to you can," Lily said in a small voice, giving in easily and her parents laughed.

"Alright, it's settled. We'll spend the night here in the Hospital Wing with you," Harry said with a nod.

"Mum? Do James and Al know you're here?" Lily asked her mother, who had crawled up onto the bed and sprawled across it on her stomach.

Ginny cocked her head to one side. "Ah, I don't know. We came right up here when we arrived, so probably not."

"That looks good on us," Harry chuckled.

"Perhaps you should let them know," giggled Lily, "I'm sure they'd like to see you. You know how James gets jealous; he'll claim that you like me best."

"You're right," said Harry, standing up. "I'll go find the boys and bring them back here. They're out of class, right?"

"I don't know," said Lily. "What time is it?"

"Four thirty," her mother said.

"Really? Wow! I've been sleeping through the days lately," she said in slight amazement.

"That's good for you," Ginny said approvingly. "It's better to get some rest here so you're caught up during the rest of the week."

"So, today would be Wednesday, right?" asked Lily.

"Right!"

"And I get out of here when?"

"Tomorrow morning," said Ginny. "Why?"

"I'm missing my detention," said Lily, with a sad look at the teacher in the next bed over. "Not that I would have had it anyway, but I'm just saying that it was tonight. If they don't get Professor Dixie better soon, we're not going to have any detentions!"

"Or a Transfiguration teacher," added Ginny. Lily scowled at her and she quickly changed the subject. "Are you hungry?"

Lily had to think about it for a moment. She had been so preoccupied since she awoke that she hadn't even thought about food. The more she pondered on the question, the more she realized it had been a while since she had eaten last. Madam Pomfrey wouldn't be happy with the fact that she was starving.

"Yeah, I am, actually," Lily said.

"Perhaps we should get you some dinner!" Ginny exclaimed, and she hopped off Lily's bed and went to the door. "Ahh, do we know any House Elves?"

"Not personally," Lily said, "but Fr…Someone told me the name of one who's really sweet! Cupid!"

With a loud crack, the house elf named Cupid popped out of no where and landed at the foot of Lily's bed. She was extremely small, even by house elf standards, with enormous brown eyes and two huge ears; one that stood straight up and one that curved downwards. She approached Lily with a happy smile on her little face, clasping her hands in front of her.

"You is calling me, Miss?" she inquired in a crackly, scratchy voice. Lily giggled; she sounded like the women she heard on TV that were from New York.

"Yes, Cupid, I did. I was just wondering, if it wasn't too much trouble…Would you be able to bring up some dinner for my mother and me? I haven't eaten in a few days, you see, and…" Lily needn't say any more. At the words, 'haven't eaten', the little elf's eyes filled with tears and she began to sob over-dramatically.

"You isn't eating! Oh, you is a poor thing, you is! Cupid is getting you something to eat in a jiff, yes, she is! I can't be having poor Miss not eating, no, no, no!" She snapped her fingers and was gone with another crack. Lily giggled again, and Ginny came back over to sit with her, laughing.

"The house elves have always been so amusing," she mused, stroking Lily's hair again.

"Did you ever have a house elf, Mum?" asked Lily, snuggling into her mother's shoulder.

Ginny let out a sarcastic laugh. "Us, have a house elf? Not a chance! My mother was our house elf; it was her favourite come back when we didn't want to help out around the house." She put on a voice that was very Mrs-Weasley-ish, glared down at her daughter and said, "What do you think I am, a house elf?" Lily smirked.

"You're very good at impersonating your mother," noted Lily.

"I've had plenty of practice," Ginny laughed. They both sat up when the Hospital Wing doors opened up again, and James, Albus and Harry came inside. They all walked over to Lily's bed.

"Wow, Mum," said James, crossing his arms and pouting. "It's great of you to make sure we know when our parents are in the school. Really smashing!"

"James, we –"

James held up a finger. "I don't want to hear it!"

"James –"

"Don't interrupt! How do you think we feel when you, our only parents in the world, come to visit our sister and completely ignore us? Do you like her better?" He glared mock-daggers at his mother, who remained silent. "Well, answer me!"

"You just told me not to talk!" Ginny exclaimed, laughing, "why should –"

"Don't answer back!" James burst, turning on his father. "And you! It took you plenty of time to come down and get us! Just look at Al here; he's almost in tears!" If the truth were told, Al was in tears, but not of sadness. He was laughing so hard at his brother parroting words he had heard his parents use so many times, he could barely see. Lily was also doubled over laughing as James pointed fingers and glowered at his parents.

Everyone's attention was diverted when the door to Madam Pomfrey's office opened, and she came bustling out. Seconds later, Professors McGonagall and Macintyre entered the Wing. The three witches met in the middle of the room, exchanged a glance, and hurried to Professor Dixie's bedside. The Potters watched with bated breath, not daring to speak, as Macintyre pulled a small vial of rose colored liquid out of her robes and pulled out the cork.

"Do you think it'll work, Eleanor?" McGonagall asked quietly, gazing down on the unconscious witch lying in the bed.

"I hope so. I followed all the directions to a tee; I made sure to do everything the book said. And a vile book it was, too," she growled under her breath. "I never want to have to use it for as long as I live."

"Let's hope we needn't," Madam Pomfrey whispered.

"I suppose we should get on with it; well begun is half done, you know," muttered McGonagall. She moved a little closer to the bed. "Do you have it?"

"Of course I do," said Macintyre briskly. "What do you think this is?" She held out the small vial to Professor McGonagall, who nodded.

"Yes, of course," said the Headmistress.

"Well, come now, Poppy, let's get on with it," Macintyre commanded.

Madam Pomfrey nodded, and also stepped closer to the bed. She eased Professor Dixie's mouth open, and Macintyre emptied the vial. Everyone stood back and watched the youngest teacher, not making a sound. Harry moved over to Professor McGonagall and whispered something to her. She nodded, not taking her eyes of Professor Dixie, and hissed a reply back to him. He crossed back over to his family and relayed the information to Ginny; her eyes widened in response, and she kept vigil over Professor Dixie's sleeping face. Lily looked between her parents and her professors, wondering what was going on. Was it possible that they had found an antidote for the Dark Magic?

A small gasp was emitted by the entire room as Professor Dixie's eyelids fluttered open. Lily beamed as she watched the Transfiguration Mistress struggle into a sitting position and look around at everyone who was in the room. She cleared her throat, and Madam Pomfrey swept down on her with a hug.

"Oh, Julie," cried the matron, "we were all so afraid you wouldn't wake up!"

"No need to worry," Professor Dixie replied hoarsely, patting the woman clumsily on the back. "It'll take much more than that to knock me down for good."

Madam Pomfrey released her strangle hold of Professor Dixie and backed up, allowing her to get a good look at the people standing around her bed. She smiled softly at all of them, and then allowed confusion to cloud her expression.

"Min," she addressed Professor McGonagall, who appeared to have forgotten where she was, "what happened?"

"What do you remember?" Professor McGonagall answered her question with another.

"I remember everything up until being cursed; Lily screaming, Grace coming down the hall…I tried to reason with the boys, but it ended up in a duel, and I was distracted by…" she broke off and glanced at Lily, who gave her a half smile.

"How do you feel?" asked Madam Pomfrey, returning to her usual brusque self. She took out her wand and placed it against Professor Dixie's temple, taking her pulse.

"Quite alright, thank you," Professor Dixie replied. "I'm a little sore and somewhat queasy. And I'm famished!"

"We just sent down for some dinner from the kitchens," Ginny told the Professor. "I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem to share."

"No, it's okay," Lily agreed. "Cupid's bringing up something soon!"

"Thank you," said Professor Dixie wearily.

The three witches who had entered the Hospital Wing moments ago stood around Professor Dixie's bed, all of them looking like they had a question on the tip of their tongues. Professor Dixie's eyes swept over them, and she smiled in an odd way.

"I'll answer your questions, and tell you what you're all dying to know, as soon as I get some nourishment into my body. I'm absolutely weak with hunger," she told them. They all smirked and nodded their agreement. "Well, what you are dying to know is the identity of the students who attacked us, are you not?"

"That's exactly what we want to know," McGonagall said with fire.

"I'd quite like to know that, as well," said Ginny. Harry put a hand on her shoulder and added, "We all would."

"So I take it neither Lily nor Grace could remember?" Professor Dixie asked the room at large.

"No, they couldn't," said McGonagall. "Both of them had their memory wiped, and expertly, I might add. Seems the culprit Obliviated everything from the moment Lily left your office; Grace would have been little help in any case, as she was hexed the moment she came down the stairs." Professor Dixie flinched at the information, and Lily read guilt in her eyes.

"Were you hurt badly, Lily?" asked the Transfiguration professor, turning to the small girl and taking in her badly bruised face. Lily made to answer her, but James interjected.

"Yeah, Professor! She looked like she'd gotten smashed in the face with a Bludger; about six hundred times" he said animatedly. Professor Dixie looked concerned.

Lily shot him a dark look. "No, I wasn't! It wasn't that bad…I mean, the bruising is gone down a fair bit…" she trailed off.

"And the swelling," added Madam Pomfrey, "and the pain every time you move. I only just got that gash on your head to seal properly! Don't down play your injuries, girl."

"Sorry," Lily answered meekly. "But James is being so overdramatic!"

"That's James for you," Harry said, giving his oldest son a warning look.

"I'm sorry I couldn't do more for you, Lily," Professor Dixie said earnestly. "I feel just awful!"

"It's not your fault, Professor," said Lily. "It's mostly mine; I haven't been thinking at all lately. Well, I've been thinking, just not properly. I mean, the things I've been thinking weren't really thought through. I, ah, you know what I mean?"

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly. Everyone turned, and she widened her eyes innocently. "Professor Dixie, you must be getting very hungry. Perhaps we should send down for some dinner?"

"Yes, Headmistress, I am quite famished. That would be lovely," she replied with an air of mock formality. McGonagall called out to an unknown House Elf, who Apparated into thin air. She asked him politely for a meal for two, and with a curt bow, the elf returned to the kitchens to retrieve their dinner. Lily sat waiting with very little patience; she was starving!

Within moments, the unknown elf and Cupid had returned from the kitchens with trays covered with food; steaming pea soup, BLT sandwiches, hot tea, a tall glass of pumpkin juice and treacle tart among them. Lily licked her lips unconsciously, and took the tray from the elf with a smile of thanks. She scooped up a large mouthful of soup hungrily, swallowing with no regard for the blisters she knew would form on her tongue and throat.

When both she and Professor Dixie had finished up every bite of their meals and deserts (James had stolen Lily's treacle tart with no regard for her, at all), the trays were Vanished with a wave from Professor McGonagall's wand. An anxious tension settled over the room; the conversation that had sprung up during the meal was forgotten, and all eyes were lingering on Professor Dixie. The young witch cleared her throat and looked around at them all.

"I suppose you all have some questions," she addressed the room at large. Professor Macintyre was the first to respond.

"I do, indeed! Professor McGonagall was down in my office earlier this evening with some news from Miss Potter. She believes that one or more of _my_ students are responsible for this altercation," she said fiercely.

Professor Dixie sighed. "I have reason to believe she's right. I dueled one of your seventh years; I don't know his name," she added, when Macintyre opened her mouth to speak, "but he was rather tall, with dark blonde hair and very powerfully built. Do you know who he is?"

"It could very well be Harrison Fields," Professor McGonagall said, "that sounds a bit like him, and he's known rather well for his dueling skills."

Professor Macintyre scoffed. "I know he's quite a dueler, Minerva, but I'm rather surprised that Julie allowed him to disarm her. He is, after all, only a seventh year student."

"I didn't allow him," defended Professor Dixie, "I was distracted!"

Professor Macintyre very nearly rolled her eyes. "I'll look into it."

"Was anyone else there?" probed McGonagall.

"Yes," Professor Dixie answered. "I know exactly who one of them was; that first year, Reynard Sly. And what a very fitting name it is, too. He's been up to a bit of troublemaking this year. In fact, it was he who stole Lily's kitten! I've had my fair share of detentions with him, I'll tell you that much. And as for the other boy, I'm almost positive it was Rory McKinnon; you know, Sly's sidekick. But they left quite quickly after I came down the hall."

"Thank you," Professor McGonagall said. "Professor Macintyre, I trust that you'll speak to these students as soon as possible?"

"Of course," Macintyre said stiffly. She nodded once as a farewell to the general population of the room, and turned on her heel and left. For a moment, Lily stared after her. The woman had a way about her that turned her off easily, but there was also something about her that she liked. She just wasn't sure what it was.

James sat up from his position sprawled across one of the empty beds down the aisle. He placed a hand over his stomach and screwed up his nose. "I'm hungry," he announced.

"Go down and get some dinner, then," Harry said.

"Well, seeing as you don't want me here," said James with his nose in the air, "I guess I will! Come on, Al," he commanded, jumping up and strutting from the room, swinging his arms as if he were marching. Albus rolled his eyes and followed his brother down into the Great Hall.

James and Albus' departure left only Ginny, Harry, McGonagall, Dixie, Madam Pomfrey and Lily in the Hospital Wing. It was seriously strange that no one else had been admitted during Lily's stay; she wasn't sure if that was a coincidence or not, but she didn't mind. It was nice to be able to have her family in, and not to be disrupted while thinking, sleeping or talking. Even though it got a bit lonely while no one else was around, she was ultimately grateful for it.

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat again. Everyone looked around to her, and she said, "I must admit, I've been here far too long. I should be getting back to my office. Mark my words, there are at least six owls waiting outside my window…" she said darkly. Madam Pomfrey laughed.

"Who has been filling in for me?" asked Professor Dixie.

"I believe it was Flurry Hopkins," said McGonagall. "I'm sure he's taken good care of your classes, Julie. You needn't worry yourself. You still have a few days recovering, if I'm not mistaken."

Madam Pomfrey nodded in agreement. "Yes, you're not getting out of here just yet," she said seriously. "You should probably be taking a sleeping potion to catch up on some rest."

"But she's been asleep for three days!" said Lily incredulously. Madam Pomfrey rounded on her and raised an eyebrow.

"Since when, exactly, are you a qualified Healer?" she asked condescendingly.

"I'm not," Lily defended, "but I just figured since she'd been unconscious…"

"She hasn't been sleeping, precisely," Ginny said, catching Madam Pomfrey's eye. "It's more like she's been Petrified, but less rigidly."

Lily's mouth formed a small 'oh', and she quieted down. Madam Pomfrey straightened her apron.

"As I was saying," she continued, glancing towards Lily to prevent any further interruptions, "you should be catching up on your rest till at least the end of the week. By Friday, I would imagine you'll be fit as a figgle!"

Harry snickered. "Don't you mean a fiddle?"

"No, a figgle!" Madam Pomfrey cried. "One of those Muggle instruments that they play under their chin!" Lily smirked, and Ginny gave her a warning glance, though she, too, was smiling.

"Your mother and I are going to stay the night here," Harry said, breaking the silence, "if that's okay," he added for Professor McGonagall's approval.

"Absolutely," she said with vigor. "This castle will always be open you the Potters!"

Harry bowed his head in thanks. "We should probably pop down and get some dinner, though," he said to Ginny.

"I am rather hungry, and I miss the house elf's cooking so much!" Ginny exclaimed, and stole a quick kiss from Lily. "We'll be back shortly, love," she said.

"You know where to find me," Lily said jokingly. Harry also kissed his daughter, thanked Madam Pomfrey, and he and Ginny left the room, Professor McGonagall following behind them and closing the double doors. Madam Pomfrey looked quickly between her two remaining patients, exhaled heavily, and went back to her office.

Lily was quiet for a moment, but then turned to her teacher. "Does Madam Pomfrey ever go down for dinner?" she wondered aloud.

"Sometimes," said Professor Dixie, smiling. "But usually she stays up here, tending to someone or another and the House Elves send her up her meals. She's got a very busy schedule, you know."

Lily nodded. "I know."

Professor Dixie knitted her brows and watched Lily's face. "How are you feeling, really?"

"Fine," Lily lied. To tell the truth, she was still stiff all over from falling so hard on the ground, and her head was slightly muddled from the potions and Obliviating charm she had been put under. She unconsciously shook her head, trying to rack some sense back into her brains. She didn't like being so confused and foggy. "How about you?" she asked.

"As good as can be expected, I suppose," Professor Dixie responded, adjusting her position slightly and wincing inaudibly. "At least I still have my memory."

"It's strange how no one wiped your memory," Lily said, the thought not crossing her mind for the first time since her professor had awoken. "Wouldn't you be the most likely person to remember who you dueled? I mean, your memory is impeccable, and you got a long look at them. Surely they would have expected you to remember…"

"Lily," Professor Dixie interrupted her, but not unkindly. "I don't think they expected me to ever wake up." Lily gasped. Now, that she _hadn't_ thought of.

**A/N: Sorry that took so long to write! I've only just started up school again, and this year is a lot more stressful than I imagined it to be. I can't believe I have so much to do already! I'll try to update at least once every week, but I make no promises. For that, I apologize.**

**Anyway, I'd like to say a special thank you to everyone who has favourited me, my story, and put me on alert! I'd love to get some feedback from you guys! **

**And another very, very special thank you to my reviewers;**

_**Allynator, CoffeyKrum, CommeParMagie, wolfgirl111, creative-writing-girl13, **__**ngayonatkailanman**__**, Phillip, hushpuppy22, HorribleHolly, Lily Potter III, and Becky!!**_

**So, as always, review please, and I really do hope you like it. And that it was worth the wait. :)**


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